Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named after the English businessman Samuel Ryder who donated the trophy. The event is jointly administered by the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe, the latter a joint venture of the PGA European Tour (60%), the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland (20%), and the PGAs of Europe (20%). Originally contested between Great Britain and the United States, the first official Ryder Cup took place in the United States in 1927 at Worcester Country Club in Worcester, Massachusetts. The home team won the first five contests, but with the competition's resumption after the Second World War, repeated American dominance eventually led to a decision to extend the representation of "Great Britain and Ireland" to include continental Europe from 1979. The inclusion of continental European golfers was partly prompted by the success of a new generation of Spanish golfers, led by Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido. In 1973 the official title of the British Team had been changed from "Great Britain" to "Great Britain and Ireland", but this was simply a change of name to reflect the fact that golfers from the Republic of Ireland had been playing in the Great Britain Ryder Cup team since 1953, while Northern Irish players had competed since 1947. In addition to players from Great Britain and Ireland, the European team has since included players from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Since 1979, Europe has won eleven times outright and retained the Cup once in a tied match, whilst the United States won nine times over the same period. Since 1979, Europe has won four times away on foreign soil (in 1987, 1995, 2004 and 2012), whilst the United States has won twice away on foreign soil (in 1981 and 1993). From 1995 to 2014, Europe won eight out of ten Ryder Cups.