Ryder Cup 2010

The Ryder Cup (officially the Ryder Cup Matches) is a golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is jointly administered by the PGA of America and the PGA European Tour, and is contested every two years, the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is also the name of the trophy, after the person who donated it, Samuel Ryder.

The competition began following an exhibition match in 1926 between a team comprising American professionals against a similar one drawn from the British PGA on the East Course, Wentworth Club, Virginia Water, Surrey, UK. The first competition took place in 1927.

Early matches between the two sides were fairly even, but after the Second World War, repeated US dominance led to a decision to extend the representation of the British & Irish team to include continental Europe in 1979. This change was partly prompted by the success of a new generation of Spanish golfers of the time, including Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido, who, in 1979, became the first Spaniards to play in the event. Since then, Team Europe has included players from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, and Sweden.

Following this change, the event has enjoyed more competitive matches, with Europe winning seven times and retaining the Cup once, and with seven American wins over this period.

With the exception of Spain in 1997 and Ireland in 2006, all tournaments have been held either in the US or UK.

The 38th Ryder Cup, which pits teams of professional golfers from the USA and Europe in a three-day series of matches, will be held 1–3 October 2010 at the Twenty Ten golf course in the Celtic Manor Resort in the city of Newport, South Wales. The event, of which the USA is the defending cup holder, will be played on a newly-constructed course. The team captains are Colin Montgomerie for Europe and Corey Pavin for the USA.

These are the players both teams will be fielding this year:

Team Europe
Name	Age	Residence	Points rank (W)	Points rank (E)	World ranking	Notes
Colin Montgomerie	47	Dunning, Scotland				Non-playing captain
Lee Westwood	37	Worksop, England	1	1	3	7th appearance
Rory McIlroy	21	Holywood, Northern Ireland	2	3	8	Ryder Cup rookie
Martin Kaymer	25	Mettmann, Germany	3	2	5	Ryder Cup rookie
Graeme McDowell	31	Portrush, Northern Ireland	4	4	14	2nd appearance
Ian Poulter	34	Milton Keynes, England	7	5	13	3rd appearance
Ross Fisher	29	Cheam, England	14	6	28	Ryder Cup rookie
Francesco Molinari	27	Turin, Italy	10	7	33	Ryder Cup rookie
Miguel Ángel Jiménez	46	Málaga, Spain	11	8	26	4th appearance
Peter Hanson	32	Trelleborg, Sweden	13	9	43	Ryder Cup rookie
Edoardo Molinari	29	Turin, Italy	5	10	16	Captain's pick, Ryder Cup rookie
Luke Donald	32	High Wycombe, England	6	16	9	Captain's pick, 3rd appearance
Pádraig Harrington	39	Dublin, Ireland	8	12	22	Captain's pick, 6th appearance

Team USA
Name	Age	Residence	Points rank	World ranking	Notes
Corey Pavin	50	Dallas, Texas			Non-playing captain
Phil Mickelson	40	Rancho Santa Fe, California	1	2	8th appearance
Hunter Mahan	28	Plano, Texas	2	15	2nd appearance
Bubba Watson	31	Bagdad, Florida	3	25	Ryder Cup rookie
Jim Furyk	40	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida	4	6	7th appearance
Steve Stricker	43	Madison, Wisconsin	5	4	2nd appearance
Dustin Johnson	26	Myrtle Beach, South Carolina	6	12	Ryder Cup rookie
Jeff Overton	27	Bloomington, Indiana	7	49	Ryder Cup rookie
Matt Kuchar	32	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida	8	10	Ryder Cup rookie
Zach Johnson	34	Lake Mary, Florida	11	18	Captain's pick, 2nd appearance
Tiger Woods	34	Windermere, Florida	12	1	Captain's pick, 6th appearance
Stewart Cink	37	Duluth, Georgia	14	35	Captain's pick, 5th appearance
Rickie Fowler	21	Las Vegas, Nevada	20	32	Captain's pick, Ryder Cup rook

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