Europe and USA convene in Wisconsin this weekend for the renowned Ryder Cup, held at Whistling Straits Golf Course.
The three rounds of competition on this par 72, 7,201-yard course begin this Friday, Sept. 24 and continue through the weekend to Sunday.
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Team Europe defends title
The highly-anticipated Ryder Cup is traditionally held every other year, but it was postponed in 2020 due to COVID-19.
The event is unique in that its prize money is not gifted directly to players. Instead, the winning team donates the purse to the charity of its choice. Although Team USA happened to lose in 2018, it managed to donate over $2.85 million to communities because of the tournament.
Team USA has claimed 26 total wins in the history of the Ryder Cup.
Team Europe, on the other hand, has only taken home 14 titles.
The event’s past 20 years of competition, however, tell a slightly different story. Team USA has only won twice this century, once in 2008 and again in 2016.
This year, Team USA boasts the advantage of being able to compete on its home course, and sportsbooks have a feeling this will be a key factor.
Each team is made up of 12 golfers that have either been automatically selected for the team or have been chosen by the captain to play.
Team USA
Team USA includes Patrick Cantlay, who won this year’s FedEx Cup and Collin Morikawa, champion of The Open.
A total of six Ryder Cup rookies are also on the roster this year. The complete team features:
Automatic qualifiers:
- Collin Morikawa
- Dustin Johnson
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Brooks Koepka
- Justin Thomas
- Patrick Cantlay
Captain’s picks:
- Tony Finau
- Xander Schauffele
- Jordan Spieth
- Harris English
- Daniel Berger
- Scottie Scheffler
Team Europe
Team Europe enters the tournament with a strong group of golfers as well. Ryder Cup veteran Lee Westwood has appeared in the event a record-tying total of 11 times.
Six-time PGA Tour winner Jon Rahm, who happens to be the weekend’s predicted top performer, is also on the team.
Automatic qualifiers:
- Jon Rahm
- Tommy Fleetwood
- Tyrrell Hatton
- Bernd Wiesberger
- Rory McIlroy
- Viktor Hovland
- Paul Casey
- Matt Fitzpatrick
- Lee Westwood
Captain’s picks:
- Sergio Garcia
- Shane Lowry
- Ian Poulter
Friday, Sept. 24 marks the first day of foursome and four-ball matches. The event welcomes a second day of foursome and four-ball matches on Saturday. Then Sunday, Sept. 26 is dedicated to single matches.
Coverage of the tournament begins Friday on the Golf Channel, while broadcasting switches over to NBC for the weekend. Play can also be streamed on FuboTV and Peacock.
Betting on the Ryder Cup
For those interested in betting on golf in Tennessee, sportsbooks have you covered for this tournament.
Along with betting on the outright winner of the cup, Tennesseans can also wager on the leading team after each day, top point scorer, top rookie, and more.
On the Team Europe side, Jon Rahm holds the best odds of leading the team in combined scoring at +333 according to Caesars Sportsbook.
For Team USA’s side, Justin Thomas has the best odds of leading at +500.
BetMGM predicts Rahm to be the top point scorer overall, giving him +700 odds of doing so.
Sportsbook promos
If you’re betting on the tournament, make sure to take advantage of a handful of different Tennessee sportsbook boosts and promos.
FanDuel is giving bettors an odds boost of +125 on USA to lead after Day 1.
Caesars Sportsbook has the widest variety of odds boost running for this event, each with a wager limit of $100.
For instance, bettors can snag +800 odds of Patrick Cantlay becoming the Top USA player, or +600 odds of Rory McIlroy becoming the Top European player. Odds of USA to win the Ryder Cup by 4.5 points or more are boosted to +225.
At BetMGM, those that place a single wager of $100 or more on the tournament will receive a $5 bonus bet for every match of the tournament that Team USA wins. These bonus bets can then be used to wager on any sport.
