Team USA Ends Team Europe’s Winning Streak at the 2008 Ryder Cup Matches
The 2008 Ryder Cup Golf matches, which were played from September 19 to September 21 at the Valhalla Golf Clubin Louisville, pit the best players against each other in an unforgettable and highly competitive match. The captains were Nick Faldo for Team Europe and Paul Azinger for Team USA. The format for the event was not the same as in the previous two Ryder Cup Matches. For the first time since 1999, the opening matches of a Ryder Cup featured the alternate-shot format.
This was the 37th Ryder Cup and was won 16½ - 11½ by Team USA to end the streak of three successive victories for Team Europe. This was Team USA’s largest margin of victory since 1981, and the first time since 1979 the Americans had the lead after every session of play.
The top players for the USA, 8 in all, and Europe, 10 in all, as determined by their points performance, received automatic selection. The remaining players on each team were selected at the discretion of the team captains. Team USA was finalized on September 2, while qualification for Team Europe ended on August 31. As the matches came to a close, the average ranking of the American team was 24.8 and that of the European team was 22.2.
Format
For the first time since 1999, the following format was used for the matches:
- Day 1 - four alternate shot matches in the morning session and four better ball matches in the afternoon
- Day 2 - four alternate shot matches in the morning and four better ball matches in the afternoon
- Day 3 - 12 singles matches
Some Ryder Cup information
The Ryder Cup matches are essentially played between teams from Europe and the United States. They are jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour. The competition began following an exhibition match in 1926 of a team representing American professionals against a similar one representing the British PGA, with the first competition taking place in 1927. Early matches between the two sides were fairly even, but after the Second World War, repeated US dominance led to a decision to extend the representation of the British & Irish team to Europe in 1979.
The Ryder Cup matches are played every two years.
As the 2008 Ryder Cup came to a close, preparations for the next edition began. the 2010 Ryder Cup will be played at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales, UK, from October 1 to October 3. After a very long time, USA will be the defending champion.