Ryder Cup Betting

Ryder Cup Betting

European players have dominated the last two majors, but how will they fare at the Ryder Cup in America next month? Bet now

Ryder Cup Betting Odds

The Ryder Cup is one of the most eagerly awaited team events in the sporting calendar. Held every two years the 2008 competition will be the 37th in its history and is being held over in America at the Valhalla Golf Club on September 16th-21st.

About the Ryder Cup

Staged every two years since 1927 the cup is played for by 12 golfers from two teams, USA and Europe over three days of various team and singles match events.

The Ryder Cup's name originated from a golfer and entrepreneur called Samuel Ryder. He acquired the services of British golf star Abe Mitchell as his golf tutor in order to make him a better player and after seeing his tutor beat a group of Americans in a match suggested that a trophy should be presented to encourage the event to be played on a regular basis, and so the Ryder Cup was born.

The gold cup was commissioned and named after Samuel Ryder with his tutor Mitchell the figure on the top of the cup.

Up until 1979 it was contested between a team of players from the USA and Great Britain but it was that year that saw the introduction of players from continental Europe which saw a new chapter in the tournament's history.

The competition has seen many changes over the years but the format of four fourballs and four foursome matches on each of the first tow days, followed by twelve singles matches on the final day is how it stands today, with a total of 28 points on offer over the three days for the two sides.

Due to the September 11th attacks in the US the 2001 event was rescheduled to the following year 2002 and with now all future competitions now conducted every two years in even-numbered years.

In the cups 35 year history the USA hold a 24-9 lead with there also being two draws, although this is a one-sided record in the last 10 years with the competition being dominated by Europe with four wins. The most significant trend in that period being that when the tournament is held in their homeland Europe they have only tasted defeat once.

The teams vote in a captain well in advance and then pick 12 players each. These 12 are made up of the top 10 tournament earners in the previous two seasons and two wild cards.

This year with players like major winners Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, as well as Colin Montgomerie (who has never lost a Ryder Cup singles match) in the teams there is sure to be millions tuning in around the world with millions more bet over the weekend of the event.

The betting is again tight, but with a lot of newcomers in the USA team this time round the bookmakers have made Europe their slight favourites at around 5/6, with the USA around 11/8 and the tie 11/1.

European team	Age	Ranking	USA team	Age	Ranking
Sergio Garcia	26	8	Tiger Woods	30	1
Luke Donald	28	10	Phil Mickelson	36	2
David Howell	31	12	Jim Furyk	36	3
Colin Montgomerie	43	15	David Toms	39	11
Jose Maria Olazabal	40	16	Chris DiMarco	38	13
Padraig Harrington	35	18	Chad Campbell	32	20
Darren Clarke (wild card)	38	22	Stewart Cink (wild card)	33	23
Paul Casey	29	26	Scott Verplank (wild card)	42	34
Henrik Stenson	30	27	Zach Johnson	30	38
Robert Karlsson	37	42	Vaughn Taylor	30	57
Paul McGinley	39	44	JJ Henry	31	65
Lee Westwood (wild card)	33	47	Brett Wetterich	33	66