Ryder Cup 2023: Schedule, format, team guide, how to watch in NZ

Members of the US team smile with the trophy following their 19-9 victory in the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in 2021. Photo / Getty Images

What started as a friendly golf exhibition nearly 100 years ago is anything but that now. The Ryder Cup has become the biggest spectacle in golf, held once every two years between the United States and Europe for nothing more than bragging rights and ownership of a 17-inch gold trophy.

Seth Waugh, CEO at the PGA of America, referred to the Ryder Cup as a “combination of the Olympics and the Super Bowl and a [Rolling] Stones concert.”

While the United States have a 27-14-2 lead in the series dating to 1927, Europe have an 11-9-1 edge going back to 1979 when continental Europe was invited to join players from Britain and Ireland.

The Americans have not won on European soil in 30 years. This could be their best chance to end that drought, coming off a 19-9 mauling in 2021 at Whistling Straits. Of course, they say that every time the Ryder Cup comes to Europe - and the gold trophy never seems to go home with them.

When and where is the Ryder Cup?

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The Ryder Cup runs Friday through Sunday at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, just outside Rome.

This is only the third Ryder Cup to be held in continental Europe since European players were invited to play in 1979. The others were at Valderrama in Spain in 1997 and Le Golf National in France in 2018.

Format and schedule

The teams will play four matches of fourballs (best ball) and four matches of foursomes (alternate shot) on Friday and Saturday, local time, followed by 12 singles matches on Sunday. With 28 points available, the Americans as the defending champions need 14 points to retain the cup.

It starts Saturday with foursomes, which is a surprise because Europe has chosen to start with fourballs at home every tournament dating to 1993. European captain Luke Donald says statistics indicate the Europeans are strong in that format. He wants to get off to a good start.

Team US v Team Europe

Zach Johnson is the US captain. The Americans are returning with seven players from the 2021 team that handed Europe their worst loss - Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth. The four Ryder Cup rookies are US Open champion Wyndham Clark, British Open champion Brian Harman, Max Homa and Sam Burns. Rickie Fowler rounds out the team. He’s playing for the first time since 2018. Koepka is the only player from LIV Golf on the team, one of the six captain’s picks after just missing out on automatic qualifying.

Luke Donald is the European captain. Henrik Stenson was the original choice but was dismissed as captain when he joined LIV Golf. Europe is in a rebuilding year but still has a strong core of experience - Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose and Shane Lowry. Europe’s four Ryder Cup rookies are Robert MacIntyre, Sepp Straka, Nicolai Hojgaard and Ludvig Aberg, who only turned pro in June. The LIV effect is strong. Missing from the European team room are Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Graeme McDowell.

The streak

Nearly half the players at Marco Simone - five Americans and six Europeans - were not even born the last time the Americans won the Ryder Cup in Europe.

That was in 1993 at The Belfry in England. The winning putt came from a Ryder Cup rookie, Davis Love III, who now is a 59-year-old vice captain for the US.

Since then, the Americans have lost in Spain, England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and France.

How to watch in NZ

The morning session begins 6.35pm (NZT) on Friday and Saturday with afternoon sessions beginning at 11.35pm. Essentially, coverage will take you through from 5.30pm, with the opening ceremony on the Friday, until 5am Saturday morning. On Sunday, the singles matches begin at 10.35pm.

In New Zealand - all matches are streaming exclusively on Sky Sport Now. The Herald will have updates of all the big news across the three days.