Are you thinking about betting on the Ryder Cup? The golf tournament comes around every two years and pits a team of American golfers against a team of European players. The event is known for fantastic crowds, amazing matches and a format that’s different from a normal PGA TOUR tournament.
One of the great things about the Ryder Cup, other than the often party atmosphere and the excited fans, is that it rotates between courses in Europe and the United States every time the event takes place. The other great thing is that there are more options for wagering than you’ll find during a normal professional golf tournament.
What Is the Ryder Cup?
The Ryder Cup is a semi-annual tournament between a U.S. team and a European team of professional golfers. It takes place every two years and rotates between courses in Europe and the States. The most interesting fact about the event is that it tosses the traditional stroke play format and adopts several of the formats that weekend duffers are familiar with. It’s a combination of alternate shot, foursome and matchplay over three days. Points are awarded with wins and the team to accumulate 14 points first takes home the title.
The Ryder Cup, as we know it today, was officially kicked off in 1927 when rules governing the tournament were drawn up. Since then a few things have been tweaked – but it’s essentially the same battle. The Ryder Cup is named after English businessman Samuel Ryder. He was a huge golf fan, avid golfer and the gentleman who donated the cup to be used as the trophy.
Ryder Cup Betting Markets
As stated before, the Ryder Cup uses three formats and none of them are stroke play, which is what you would find during a typical professional golf tournament. Why is this important? Because it gives wagering platforms the opportunity for an increased number of betting options. You can wager on a winner, how many hole-in-ones, head-to-head play and more, as you would with any PGA TOUR event.
Let’s start with the foursome matches! Two golfers from each team play two from the other team to form a foursome. The golfers on the same team take alternate shots with the same ball. The team that completes the hole with the least number of strokes wins the hole. That means wagering options for each team, each foursome, each player, plus all of the side/prop bets that go along with betting on any professional golf tournament.
Now, let’s talk about the second format which is the fourball matches. Again, there are two teams of two golfers from each USA and European team. This is similar to the foursome format, but this time all four golfers play their ball during the entire round. They do not play the “best ball” method as used before. The team with the individual golfer that has the lowest score among the four players wins. Once again the wagering platforms have a wonderful opportunity to increase the fun with more betting options as well as some of the traditional ones.
Lastly, there are match-play matches which are played by two golfers, one from each team, facing off against each other. The player with the best score on a hole wins. If it is a par-three hole and one player sinks it in two strokes while the other player is on the green in two, but still needs to put for par then then you see that player pick up his ball and concede the hole.
After all, the player that carded two wins the hole, so there’s no need for the other player to finish out. This is probably the closest, when it comes to wagering, as you would find when compared to a traditional stroke-play format. You’ll find all of the traditional wagers are offered during these matches.
Ryder Cup Winners
One thing that I constantly say when wagering on any sporting event is to look for trends! That still applies when it comes to wondering how to bet on the Ryder Cup. The easiest trend to research is how many times Team USA or the European Team has won over the years. Let’s look at the most recent past ten Ryder Cups. Europe has won seven times, while the US has won three times. Here’s how that breaks down.
2021 – United States (Skipped 2020/Covid) (Played in the USA)
2018 – Europe (Played in Europe)
2016 – United States (Played in the USA)
2014 – Europe (Played in Europe)
2012 – Europe (Played in the USA)
2010 – Europe (Played in Europe)
2008 – United States (Played in the USA)
2006 – Europe (Played in Europe)
2004 – Europe (Played in the USA)
2002 – Europe (Played in Europe)
The obvious trend over the last ten Ryder Cups is that Europe has won the majority with a few back-to-back victories, while Team USA does not seem able to win twice in a row. Another trend worth considering is home-field advantage! The United States Ryder Cup team won all three of its victories on US soil. The European team has proven, at least over the last ten outings, that it can win in the USA as well as in Europe.
Leaning on the PGA Season Stats
The biggest tip I can offer about how to bet on the Ryder Cup is to lean on PGA TOUR stats! Yes, the Ryder Cup is a unique event that plays a different format than a typical PGA event. However, players still have to play and we can get a good indicator of how they may perform from their past stats. You still have to look for trends across the usual areas such as putting, greens in regulation, fairways hit and more. One stat that is important due to the format is scrambling. I love looking for players that can work themselves out of trouble, which is important during match play as well as the other formats.
Time to Place Your Bets
Hopefully, this article on how to bet on the Ryder Cup has been useful for you. The big takeaway is that there will be several wagering options available to you over the three-day event. There will be a combination of offerings that you’ll see during any professional tournament as well as some added variety because of the various formats and the fact that the event is between the USA and Europe. You may be able to bet on something as simple as a player or team from the USA or Europe winning an individual match.
The second biggest takeaway is to not get too far away from what you would normally do when betting on a normal PGA golf tournament. I always look for players on a team and their stats from past outings. As always – gather as much information as you can when placing your bets. Most of the fun about the Ryder Cup is being able to pull for your home team. You can still pull for your favorite team while placing your wagers on the individual matches based on your research.
