How the Ryder Cup works

The Ryder Cup works like this: there are 12 players on each side, 10 of whom qualify via a rolling two-year points system based on top-10 finishes at individual strokeplay tournaments. The other two players are wildcard picks selected by each of the non-playing team captains.

The Ryder Cup is played over three days on a matchplay basis, whereby each team aims to win the most holes in each match with the lowest score on each hole. If a team is ahead by more holes than remain, they win the match. For example, if Europe were four holes up on the US with just three holes to play, Europe win the match four and three.

This week's matches will start on Friday with four fourball matches in the morning followed by four foursomes matches in the afternoon. A fourball match involves two players on each team both playing their own ball with the best score to count. A foursomes match involves two players on each team playing alternate shots with the same ball.

Saturday's second day features four foursomes matches in the morning followed by four fourball matches in the afternoon. The final day on Sunday features 12 singles matches where every player on both teams competes.

Before each session of play, both captains decide on their team combinations and order of play, without knowing what their counterpart is planning.