Most people do not put New York City and golf together, nor do they consider the game to be a team sport.
The 2025 Ryder Cup is challenging these views. The competition will be held just outside of the Big Apple at Bethpage State Park’s Black Course in Farmingdale, New York.
From Friday, September 26, through Sunday, September 28, 12 Americans and 12 Europeans will go head-to-head. Let’s take a look at the history and format before covering how to tune in for every stroke and birdie.
The history of the Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is named after its patron, Sam Ryder, a British businessman and golf enthusiast. He fell in love with the sport after taking it up to help him recover from an illness and wanted to help the game gain international acclaim. The first official event took place in 1927 at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts.
Originally, the competition was just between American and British men, with the United States taking home the first trophy. U.S. captain Walter Hagen led the Americans to victory over the team from Great Britain supervised by Ted Ray.
The Americans dominated the early years of the competition, so in 1979, Great Britain’s team began allowing other Europeans to participate in order to even the playing field. The U.S. still has the upper hand, though, with 27 wins to Europe’s 15.
The format of the Ryder Cup
The competition takes place every two years. The teams play 28 matches total, with each match being worth one point. The first team to 14.5 wins. In the event of a tie, the defending champion keeps the cup.
The first two days involve team-based play in foursomes and four-balls formats. In foursomes play, two players from each team join forces and share a ball, alternating shots. The lowest score wins the hole.
Four-balls play is similar, but each team member uses his own ball and the lowest of the two scores counts for the team. The team with the lowest score wins the hole.
The third day of competition is much simpler. There are singles matches with players facing off one-on-one.
Who is playing in the 2025 Ryder Cup?
There are two ways to make the American or European team. The first six players automatically qualify based on past performance and rankings. The next six are picked by the team captains.
Keegan Bradley, while not playing himself, will oversee the Americans. He named Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Ben Griffin, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, and Cameron Young. They will join Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, and Bryson DeChambeau.
This year, the Americans have an extra incentive to participate. They will be awarded $500,000 each for their efforts, with $300,000 going toward charity and the players walking away with a $200,000 stipend. The Europeans do not have this payday and are in it just for the bragging rights.
Luke Donald is the team captain on the European side. Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Højgaard, and Tyrrell Hatton automatically qualified. They will be joined by Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, and Ludvig Åberg, who were appointed by Donald.
How to watch the 2025 Ryder Cup
There are many ways to catch all the action of the 45th Ryder Cup. For the visually minded, the drama will be spread out on multiple television networks.
The opening ceremonies will be broadcast on the Golf Channel on Thursday, September 25, from 4 to 7 p.m. ET.
The following day, the USA Network gets the honors, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. NBC will televise the final two days of competition.
On Saturday, the action takes place from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET. On Sunday, you can sleep in, because the coverage goes from noon to 6 p.m. ET.
Those who prefer radio can tune in to Ryder Cup Radio on SiriusXM during the same broadcast hours as the televised versions.
Cord-cutters can see some selective matches on RyderCup.com, the Ryder Cup app, and NBCUniversal’s Peacock streaming service.
If you simply cannot get enough of the coverage, Peacock will air a morning pre-show hosted by SNL’s Colin Jost.