When and where is it on?
The 2025 Ryder Cup is on from Friday, September 26th to Sunday, September 28th at Bethpage Black course in Long Island, New York.
How can I watch it all?
You can watch the week on Sky Sports on their dedicated Sky Sports Ryder Cup channel. Coverage starts at 11.30am on Friday and Saturday, and at 4.30pm on Sunday.
There will also be considerable build-up on the broadcaster during, including the opening ceremony on Thursday. You can also follow live coverage on the Irish Times website.
What is the format?
There are 12 players on each team playing team golf for the first two days (fourballs and foursomes) and then singles on the final day, where winning a match is worth one point and a halved match is worth half a point.
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Fourball is two players on each team playing their own ball and the best score wins the hole. Foursomes is an alternate shot format, where players take it in turns to play the same ball and the best score wins the hole.
There are two sessions on Friday and Saturday, where eight players from each team participate, starting with foursomes. On Sunday, there are 12 singles matches where every player competes one-on-one against a player from the opposing team.
What’s the course venue like?
Bethpage Black is famous for being one of the few Major-level American courses that is accessible to anyone, as a public course just outside New York City. It can be played for just $75 (€63), but you may have to wait in your car overnight given the demand.
Generally, it is considered as a tough track that may be set up easier to encourage birdies for the Ryder Cup, it has hosted several PGA Tour events and Majors, but this is the first time it has hosted the Ryder Cup.
Which Irish players are competing?
Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry are playing for Europe this week. McIlroy is a Ryder Cup veteran with seven previous appearances and will lead the European team as the highest ranked player.
The 36-year-old has had one of the best years of his career, winning the Masters and completing the Grand Slam, while he is good form after winning the Irish Open earlier this month. He has been open in saying that winning the Ryder Cup is one of his main ambitions of the year.
Lowry will be playing in his third Ryder Cup, he got a captain’s pick from Luke Donald after just missing out on an automatic place. The Offaly man loves the event, as he said to Philip Reid: “Honestly, I love competing at the highest level, playing the Majors, but like this is actually the reason I wake up in the mornings. This is what I want to do.”
What are the teams?
The European team:
Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Åberg, Rasmus Hojgaard, Sepp Straka.
The team is captained by Luke Donald.
The USA team:
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, JJ Spaun, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Harris English, Bryson DeChambeau.
The team is captained by Keegan Bradley.
What is there to watch out for this year?
One of the main narratives heading into this Ryder Cup was whether US captain Bradley, the 12th ranked player in the world, would pick himself for the team. Bradley decided against it, given all the other responsibilities involved, but should the American team struggle then that decision may come under question. Scheffler has been far and away the best player in the world the past few years, but can he bring that dominance to a team situation in the way that Tiger Woods struggled to do?
Europe have been practising with VR headsets in anticipation of hostile crowds. New York fans are notoriously boisterous and the fervent patriotism may be buoyed by the expected appearance of Donald Trump on the opening day.
What is the history of the event?
The overall history of the event is in favour of the US, by 27-15, but if you just limit it to the expansion of the Great Britain and Ireland team to Europe from 1979 onwards then it is much closer and in favour of Europe, who have won 12 times to nine in that period.
Perhaps more importantly though, Europe have not won away in the Ryder Cup since 2012, which shows the extent of the challenge this week.
What are the tee-times and pairings?
Sunday singles (all times Irish):
Match 1 – 5.02pm: Cameron Young (USA) v Justin Rose (Europe)
Match 2 – 5.13pm: Justin Thomas (USA) v Tommy Fleetwood (Europe)
Match 3 – 5.24pm: Bryson DeChambeau (USA) v Matt Fitzpatrick (Europe)
Match 4 – 5.35pm: Scottie Scheffler (USA) v Rory McIlroy (Europe)
Match 5 – 5.46pm: Patrick Cantlay (USA) v Ludvig Aberg (Europe)
Match 6 – 5.57pm: Xander Schauffele (USA) v Jon Rahm (Europe)
Match 7 – 6.08pm: JJ Spain (USA) v Sepp Straka (Europe)
Match 8 – 6.19pm: Russell Henley (USA) v Shane Lowry (Europe)
Match 9 – 6.30pm: Ben Griffin (USA) v Rasmus Hojgaard (Europe)
Match 10 – 6.41pm: Collin Morikawa (USA) v Tyrrell Hatton (Europe)
Match 11 – 6.52pm: Sam Burns (USA) v Robert MacIntyre (Europe)
Match 12 – *Will not be played due to Hovland injury*: Harris English (USA) v Viktor Hovland (Europe)
Weekend round timings (all times Irish):
Friday & Saturday – Foursomes: 12.10pm; 12.26pm; 12.42pm; 12.58pm. Fourballs: 5.25pm; 5.42pm; 5.57pm; 6.13pm.
Sunday – Singles: 5.02pm to 7.03pm, 12 matches at 11-minute intervals.
What is the weather forecast?
Not ideal for spectators as light rain is expected for the first two days and a chance of showers on Sunday, with a gentle breeze.
