| 37th Ryder Cup Matches | ||
|---|---|---|
| Dates | September 19–21 | |
| Venue | Valhalla Golf Club | |
| Location | Louisville, Kentucky | |
| Captains | Paul Azinger (USA) Nick Faldo (Europe) |
|
| 16½ 11½ | ||
| United States wins the Ryder Cup | ||
| «2006 | 2010» | |
The 37th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 19–21, 2008, at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Team USA won 16½ - 11½ 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. Team captains were Nick Faldo for Team Europe and Paul Azinger for Team USA. Faldo's assistant was José María Olazábal, while Raymond Floyd, Dave Stockton and Olin Browne assisted Azinger.
Contents |
The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format used in 2008 was:
With a total of 28 points available, 14½ points were required to win the cup, and 14 points for the defending champion to retain it. All matches were played over a maximum 18 holes.[2]
The format differed from the last two Ryder Cup events. For the first time since 1999, the opening matches featured foursomes, chosen by US captain Paul Azinger who hoped to give his team an early advantage in Kentucky. Foursomes was used in the first sessions of every event since 1981 until European captain Seve Ballesteros opened with better ball (fourball) in 1997 at Valderrama. US captain Ben Crenshaw switched back to alternate shot in 1999 at Brookline, but the previous three Ryder Cup matches had started with better ball.[3]
The top players for the USA (8) and Europe (10) as determined by their points performance (described below) 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. The Official World Golf Rankings shown are as of September 14, 2008, the last assessment issued before the Ryder Cup. The average ranking of the American team was 24.8 and that of the European team was 22.2.
| Team USA | |||||
| Name | Age | Residence | Points rank |
World ranking |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Azinger | 48 | Bradenton, Florida | Non-playing captain | ||
| Phil Mickelson | 38 | Rancho Santa Fe, California | 2 | 2 | |
| Stewart Cink | 35 | Duluth, Georgia | 3 | 11 | |
| Kenny Perry | 48 | Franklin, Kentucky | 4 | 20 | |
| Jim Furyk | 38 | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida | 5 | 9 | |
| Anthony Kim | 23 | Dallas, Texas | 6 | 10 | Ryder Cup rookie |
| Justin Leonard | 36 | Dallas, Texas | 7 | 23 | |
| Ben Curtis | 31 | Stow, Ohio | 8 | 30 | Ryder Cup rookie |
| Boo Weekley | 35 | Jay, Florida | 9 | 35 | Ryder Cup rookie |
| Steve Stricker | 41 | Madison, Wisconsin | 10 | 8 | Captain's pick, Ryder Cup rookie |
| Hunter Mahan | 26 | Plano, Texas | 13 | 36 | Captain's pick, Ryder Cup rookie |
| J. B. Holmes | 26 | Campbellsville, Kentucky | 18 | 56 | Captain's pick, Ryder Cup rookie |
| Chad Campbell | 34 | Colleyville, Texas | 21 | 57 | Captain's pick |
Note: The leading player on the points list, Tiger Woods, was recovering from knee surgery and unable to compete.
| Team Europe | ||||||
| Name | Age | Residence | Points rank (W) |
Points rank (E) |
World ranking |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nick Faldo | 51 | Welwyn Garden City, England | Non-playing captain | |||
| Pádraig Harrington | 37 | Dublin, Ireland | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| Sergio García | 28 | Borriol, Spain | 2 | 14 | 5 | |
| Lee Westwood | 35 | Worksop, England | 3 | 2 | 12 | |
| Henrik Stenson | 32 | Gothenburg, Sweden | 4 | 5 | 7 | |
| Robert Karlsson | 39 | Monte Carlo, Monaco | 5 | 3 | 17 | |
| Miguel Ángel Jiménez | 44 | Málaga, Spain | 6 | 4 | 19 | |
| Graeme McDowell | 29 | Portrush, Northern Ireland | 9 | 6 | 32 | Ryder Cup rookie |
| Justin Rose | 28 | London, England | 7 | 7 | 13 | Ryder Cup rookie |
| Søren Hansen | 34 | Copenhagen, Denmark | 13 | 8 | 42 | Ryder Cup rookie |
| Oliver Wilson | 27 | Weybridge, England | 15 | 9 | 48 | Ryder Cup rookie |
| Ian Poulter | 32 | Milton Keynes, England | 8 | 12 | 29 | Captain's pick |
| Paul Casey | 31 | Esher, England | 16 | 18 | 38 | Captain's pick |
The final line-up for the European team was announced after the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles on August 31, 2008. Søren Hansen, Oliver Wilson and Justin Rose were the last three automatic qualifiers after successful tournaments. Nick Faldo handed wildcards to Paul Casey and Ian Poulter.[4]
The qualification process is the same as in 2006. Five players will qualify from the world point list, five players will qualify from the European points list, and the captain will have two picks. The world points list is simply the total world ranking points won during the qualifying period September 6, 2007, to August 31, 2008. The leading five players, not otherwise qualified from World Points List, on the European Points List will qualify for the team. The Ryder Cup European Points List lists points (1 point = 1 Euro) earned by a European Tour Member during the qualifying period.
The selection process was changed for 2008. The qualification process started at the four majors in 2007 and resumed on January 1, 2008. Paul Azinger has four captain's picks, up from two in 2006. Criteria: Prize money earned in the 2007 major championships (Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship and PGA Championship—one point for every $1,000 earned). Prize money earned in "official events" in 2008 from January 1 to August 11 (one point for every $1,000 earned, excluding the major championships and events played opposite major championships and opposite World Golf Championships). Prize money earned in the 2008 major championships (Masters, U.S. Open, The Open Championship, PGA Championship) (two points for every $1,000 earned). Prize money earned in 2008 events played opposite the major championships and opposite World Golf Championship events between January 1 and August 11 (one-half point for every $1,000 earned). With the 2006 points system having been in effect prior to the 2008 points system being announced, it has been determined that all American players who finished in the top 10 in all official events from August 27 to November 5, 2006, will be awarded one-quarter point for every $1,000 earned.
The qualifying period began on September 6, 2007.
The morning foursomes began well for Team Europe, as they took the lead in all four matches within the first hour. However, things changed by the end of the morning, with Team USA ending the session up 3–1, marking the first time since the last American win in 1999 that Team USA held the lead at the end of any Ryder Cup session.[5]
| Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mickelson/Kim | halved | Harrington/Karlsson |
| Leonard/Mahan | 3 & 2 | Stenson/Casey |
| Cink/Campbell | 1 hole | Rose/Poulter |
| Perry/Furyk | halved | Westwood/García |
| 3 | Session | 1 |
| 3 | Overall | 1 |
The afternoon session was almost a replay of the morning session. Team Europe led after the front nine in three of the four matches, but only won one. Team USA ended up with its largest lead after the first day since Europe was first included in the Ryder Cup in 1979.[5][6]
| Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Mickelson/Kim | 2 holes | Harrington/McDowell |
| Stricker/Curtis | 4 & 2 | Poulter/Rose |
| Leonard/Mahan | 4 & 3 | García/Jiménez |
| Holmes/Weekley | halved | Westwood/Hansen |
| 2½ | Session | 1½ |
| 5½ | Overall | 2½ |
| Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cink/Campbell | 4 & 3 | Poulter/Rose |
| Leonard/Mahan | halved | Jiménez/McDowell |
| Mickelson/Kim | 2 & 1 | Stenson/Wilson |
| Furyk/Perry | 3 & 1 | Harrington/Karlsson |
| 1½ | Session | 2½ |
| 7 | Overall | 5 |
| Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Weekley/Holmes | 2 & 1 | Westwood/Hansen |
| Curtis/Stricker | halved | García/Casey |
| Perry/Furyk | 1 hole | Poulter/McDowell |
| Mickelson/Mahan | halved | Stenson/Karlsson |
| 2 | Session | 2 |
| 9 | Overall | 7 |
| Results | ||
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Kim | 5 & 4 | Sergio García |
| Hunter Mahan | halved | Paul Casey |
| Justin Leonard | 5 & 3 | Robert Karlsson |
| Phil Mickelson | 3 & 2 | Justin Rose |
| Kenny Perry | 3 & 2 | Henrik Stenson |
| Boo Weekley | 4 & 2 | Oliver Wilson |
| J. B. Holmes | 2 & 1 | Søren Hansen |
| Jim Furyk | 2 & 1 | Miguel Ángel Jiménez |
| Stewart Cink | 2 & 1 | Graeme McDowell |
| Steve Stricker | 3 & 2 | Ian Poulter |
| Ben Curtis | 2 & 1 | Lee Westwood |
| Chad Campbell | 2 & 1 | Pádraig Harrington |
| 7½ | Session | 4½ |
| 16½ | Overall | 11½ |
|
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