Every two years, the best golfers in the United States square off against the best golfers from Europe in the Ryder Cup.
The 2012 competition tees off starting September 28 at Medinah Country Club in the suburbs of Chicago. While the Ryder Cup is often associated with the best of the best in the sport, selecting the Ryder Cup teams is not as simple as skimming the golfers off of the top of the world rankings. Instead, both Team USA and Team Europe have established qualification systems to ensure that the Ryder Cup participants are worthy of representing their respective team.
Team USA
The American team is organized and overseen by The PGA of America, which has established the procedure for selecting the team members. Once selected, the team consists of one team captain (and assistants) and 12 golfers.
Team Captain
The first step is for The PGA of America to select a team captain who does not golf but devises a strategy and chooses a portion of the team. In addition, the team captain is permitted to add a group of assistants to help with the decisions he has to make as captain.
United States Point System
The first eight golfers on Team USA are selected by taking the top eight golfers on the U.S. Point System rankings as of August 12, 2012. Quite simply, the eight golfers with the most points get the first eight spots on the team.
Points are awarded as follows:
- One point is awarded for every $1,000 earned in 2011 major championships (Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship).
- One point is awarded for every $1,000 earned in all 2012 "official" events from January 1 through August 12. This excludes the major championships, events played opposite major championships, and events played opposite the World Golf Championships.
- Two points are awarded for every $1,000 earned in the 2012 major championships.
- One-half of a point is awarded for every $1,000 earned in 2012 events between January 1 and August 12 that are played opposite the major championships and opposite World Golf Championships.
Captain's Choices
Finally, the Team USA captain gets to select the final four members of the squad. While he may use the points rankings as guidance, the captain maintains the discretion to choose whomever he wants to give the team the best chance at winning the Cup.
Team Europe
Team Europe has its own separate organizing body and qualification process. For our opponents across the pond, the final decisions are made by the European Ryder Cup Players and Stakeholders Board ("Ryder Cup Europe"), which has set the following qualifications procedure:
Team Captain
As with Team USA, Team Europe is led by a captain. The captain was invited to serve by the Tournament Committee of the European Tour, with his captainship ultimately ratified by Ryder Cup Europe. The European captain then selects a series of vice captains to assist him with to leading the team.
Ryder Cup European Points List
The first five spots on Team Europe belong to the top five qualifiers on the Ryder Cup European Points List at the conclusion of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneages in August 2012, provided that the qualifiers are members of the European Tour. One point is awarded for each Euro earned by a member from all Race to Dubai Tournaments from September 1, 2011, to the later of August 26, 2012, or the conclusion of the Jonnie Walker Championship at Gleneages in 2012.
Ryder Cup World Points List
The second five spots go to the top five European Tour members (who do not otherwise qualify via the European Points List) on the Ryder Cup World Points List. Points are awarded on this list by earning Official World Golf Ranking points in tournaments participated in between September 1, 2012, and August 20, 2012, or the 2012 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneages -- whichever is later. World Ranking Points are allocated to all officially sanctioned tournaments on any Federated Tour by the Official World Golf Rankings and are determined according to the Event Rating of the specific tournament.
Captain's Choices
The final two spots on Team Europe belong to the discretion of the team captain, who controls two captain's choice picks. Similar to Team USA, the European captain has discretion to choose two golfers to fill out the roster for the event.
With their teams in place, it will be interesting to see how Team USA and Team Europe fare when they tee off in Medinah for the 2012 Ryder Cup.
The 2012 competition tees off starting September 28 at Medinah Country Club in the suburbs of Chicago. While the Ryder Cup is often associated with the best of the best in the sport, selecting the Ryder Cup teams is not as simple as skimming the golfers off of the top of the world rankings. Instead, both Team USA and Team Europe have established qualification systems to ensure that the Ryder Cup participants are worthy of representing their respective team.
Team USA
The American team is organized and overseen by The PGA of America, which has established the procedure for selecting the team members. Once selected, the team consists of one team captain (and assistants) and 12 golfers.
Team Captain
The first step is for The PGA of America to select a team captain who does not golf but devises a strategy and chooses a portion of the team. In addition, the team captain is permitted to add a group of assistants to help with the decisions he has to make as captain.
United States Point System
The first eight golfers on Team USA are selected by taking the top eight golfers on the U.S. Point System rankings as of August 12, 2012. Quite simply, the eight golfers with the most points get the first eight spots on the team.
Points are awarded as follows:
- One point is awarded for every $1,000 earned in 2011 major championships (Masters, U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship).
- One point is awarded for every $1,000 earned in all 2012 "official" events from January 1 through August 12. This excludes the major championships, events played opposite major championships, and events played opposite the World Golf Championships.
- Two points are awarded for every $1,000 earned in the 2012 major championships.
- One-half of a point is awarded for every $1,000 earned in 2012 events between January 1 and August 12 that are played opposite the major championships and opposite World Golf Championships.
Captain's Choices
Finally, the Team USA captain gets to select the final four members of the squad. While he may use the points rankings as guidance, the captain maintains the discretion to choose whomever he wants to give the team the best chance at winning the Cup.
Team Europe
Team Europe has its own separate organizing body and qualification process. For our opponents across the pond, the final decisions are made by the European Ryder Cup Players and Stakeholders Board ("Ryder Cup Europe"), which has set the following qualifications procedure:
Team Captain
As with Team USA, Team Europe is led by a captain. The captain was invited to serve by the Tournament Committee of the European Tour, with his captainship ultimately ratified by Ryder Cup Europe. The European captain then selects a series of vice captains to assist him with to leading the team.
Ryder Cup European Points List
The first five spots on Team Europe belong to the top five qualifiers on the Ryder Cup European Points List at the conclusion of the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneages in August 2012, provided that the qualifiers are members of the European Tour. One point is awarded for each Euro earned by a member from all Race to Dubai Tournaments from September 1, 2011, to the later of August 26, 2012, or the conclusion of the Jonnie Walker Championship at Gleneages in 2012.
Ryder Cup World Points List
The second five spots go to the top five European Tour members (who do not otherwise qualify via the European Points List) on the Ryder Cup World Points List. Points are awarded on this list by earning Official World Golf Ranking points in tournaments participated in between September 1, 2012, and August 20, 2012, or the 2012 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneages -- whichever is later. World Ranking Points are allocated to all officially sanctioned tournaments on any Federated Tour by the Official World Golf Rankings and are determined according to the Event Rating of the specific tournament.
Captain's Choices
The final two spots on Team Europe belong to the discretion of the team captain, who controls two captain's choice picks. Similar to Team USA, the European captain has discretion to choose two golfers to fill out the roster for the event.
With their teams in place, it will be interesting to see how Team USA and Team Europe fare when they tee off in Medinah for the 2012 Ryder Cup.
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