It’s a massive week for golfing fans as it is Ryder Cup week. The 
biennial tournament will be contested for the first time ever on French soil at Le Golf National, on the outskirts of Paris, with Team USA hoping to retain the trophy for the first time since 1993 following their win at Hazeltine back in 2016.
As always. betting interest in this event is huge with many punters deciding to have a flutter over the three days of action, with of course the most popular bet being on which of the two teams will eventually lift the famous trophy. We recommend enjoying a flutter with bet365 Sport on these events, new customers who have not yet signed up can take up the latest bet365 Sport New Player Bonus, which is available right now.
All the odds shown in this article were taken from bet365 Sport and were correct as of 12.15pm GMT on Monday 24th September 2018.
Let’s begin our preview of the event with a look at the Ryder Cup’s history, some of its key stats and a preview of the course, the tournament format and of course, the two teams that will be competing against each other to try and lift the trophy.
The Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup was initially a tournament contested between the United States and Great Britain, which eventually developed into Great Britain and Ireland. After the first four tournaments saw both teams win twice, over the many years that followed, the United States exerted a huge dominance in the event, winning all but one of the tournaments up until 1977.
With interest in the event waning given how one-sided the tournament had become, a decision was made to expand the Great Britain and Ireland team to include all of mainland Europe, which had seen a number of top golfers emerging, including Spaniard Seve Ballesteros.
The United States won the first three tournaments between themselves and Europe, but a 14.5 to 13.5 victory in 1983 showed how close Europe was getting to the previously dominant Americans. Then in 1985, Europe achieved its first win when Sam Torrance holed the winning putt at The Belfry.
Since that win, Team Europe has dominated the event, winning 10 times to the United States five with just one match drawn. Indeed, such was the dominance of Europe after the 2014 tournament at Gleneagles, the American team had a wholesale review of how they pick their captains and organise their team, in order that they could be more competitive.
That resulted in a much stronger showing for America in the 2016 tournament and a 17-11 victory on home soil. Now their team faces the prospect of beating Team Europe on foreign soil, something that the US Team has only done once before (back in 1993).
Le Golf National
Le Golf National is a course that is familiar to many on the European tour as the home of the Open de France, one of the signature events of the season for European players. It is a par-71 course that has a natural ‘stadium’ feel to it and which features an exciting stretch of four finishing holes, each adorned with plenty of water, which will provide huge amounts of drama as the tournament progresses.
It is a course that won’t be massively long, despite one par five coming in at over 600 yards and a tricky par-3 second hole at 213 yards and one where accuracy and putting skills are perhaps more beneficial compared to distance from the tee.
Ryder Cup Format
- Friday 28th September – AM – 4x Foursomes, PM – 4x Fourballs
- Saturday 29th September – AM – 4x Foursome, PM – 4x Fourballs
- Sunday 30th September – PM – 12x Singles Games
All matches are played in the match play format and the first team to win 14.5 points will win the trophy. The US team can retain the trophy if the game finishes in a 14-14 draw as they are the current holders.
Team U.S.A
Jim Furyk’s team comprises of 8 players who qualified via performance and four captain’s picks as follows:
- Brooks Koepka
- Dustin Johnson
- Justin Thomas
- Patrick Reed
- Bubba Watson
- Jordan Spieth
- Rickie Fowler
- Webb Simpson
- Bryson DeChambeau (Captain’s Pick)
- Phil Mickelson (Captain’s Pick)
- Tiger Woods (Captain’s Pick)
- Tony Finau (Captain’s Pick)
Furyk’s Vice Captains are:
- David Duval
- Steve Stricker
- Zach Johnson
- Matt Kuchar
Tiger Woods initially was on the team as a vice captain, but his performances as a player over the season have seen him earn a captain’s selection to play on the team instead.
This is a hugely talented, experienced and very strong Team USA squad and is arguably the finest ever United States team to head to European soil to compete for the Ryder Cup.
Team Europe
Thomas Bjorn’s 12-man European team also comprises of eight qualifiers from season performance, plus four captain’s picks.
- Francesco Molinari (Italy)
- Justin Rose (England)
- Tyrell Hatton (England)
- Tommy Fleetwood (England)
- Jon Rahm (Spain)
- Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland)
- Alex Noren (Sweden)
- Thorbjorn Olesen (Denmark)
- Paul Casey (England) – (Captain’s Pick)
- Sergio Garcia (Spain) – (Captain’s Pick)
- Ian Poulter (England) – (Captain’s Pick)
- Henrik Stenson (Sweden) – (Captain’s Pick)
Bjorn’s vice captains for the event are:
- Luke Donald (England)
- Padraig Harrington (Ireland)
- Lee Westwood (England)
- Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland)
This European team is stronger and more experienced than the team that lost the last match in Hazeldine and features many players both with Ryder Cup experience (Rose, McIlroy, Casey, Garcia, Poulter and Stenson) as well as those who have enjoyed superb seasons (Fleetwood, Rahm and Hatton). However, the team does lack experience compared to the American dozen and they will start the tournament as the underdogs.
Top Ryder Cup Betting Picks
Ryder Cup Winner – Team USA – 4/6
Although I expect this Ryder Cup to be a closely contested one and perhaps one that will go down to the last few matches out on course on the Sunday, my gut feeling here is that the strength in depth of the American team will mean that they will run out winners come Sunday evening. I can see it being close after the first two days, but in the singles, I think the American strength in depth will pay big dividends here and I think that may well be the key difference between the two teams.
Top American Points Scorer – Patrick Reed – 10/1
Picking the top points scorer for America and Europe is hard as you have to get inside the head of the team captain and predict which players are likely to play at least four of the five sessions, if not all five. In Team USA’s case, I think Patrick Reed, the Masters Champion, who enjoyed a stellar performance in recent Ryder Cups has made him a sure-fire starter in the fourballs and he will also likely start one if not both foursomes games too. Given his record, I think he is a very good value bet at 10/1.
Top European Points Scorer – Rory McIlroy – 9/2
From the European team’s perspective, I think they are going to rely heavily on their two in form players, Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy. Rose waning performance at the end of the Tour Championship, even though he did win the $10 million FedEx Cup, means I feel he may not be quite so fresh as McIlroy, who I think will likely play all five sessions for Europe and is the player I’d back to score the most for Thomas Bjorn’s team. However as an outside bet, Ian Poulter at 10/1 could be another, although I do wonder if he will play in enough sessions, but if Poulter starts the first morning foursomes and plays to his Ryder Cup level, then he could well be a solid bet for Europe’s top player.
Correct Score – Team USA 15-13 Team Europe – 8/1
I have already mentioned that I think this Ryder Cup will be one of the closest in modern times and I think that coming into the final day of singles matches, the teams will likely be very close, perhaps even sharing the 16 available points so far. However, in the singles, I just see the US team as being the stronger and winning more of those key close games and as such, I am backing them to win this one 15-13.
Worried about your gambling?