The Official Barstool 2023 Ryder Cup Preview Blog

Andrew Redington. Getty Images.

Welcome to the Ryder Cup, the premier match play and international golf tournament in the world. There's nothing like it and nothing better. Raucous crowds, thrilling match play, team golf…. we have to wait 2 years for this to come back. And it's finally here. 

The Americans are coming off an absolute romp at Whistling Straits in 2021, smoking the Europeans 19-9. It sent quite a message, as the youth of the Americans simply overpowered a veteran crew that had simply given us fits for the better part of 2 decades. It signaled the end of an era, as European stalwarts such as Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, and Lee Westwood were finally put in their place. 

Sunday was virtually a formality, with USA coming in with an 11-5 lead and quickly dousing any hopes of a Medinah-like charge. It became a laugher, with the afternoon pretty much becoming a victory lap and competition to see how high the Americans could run the score. They ended up cleaning up 8 of the 12 matches, and clinched the Cup when only the 5th match of the slate concluded in an epic tie between Viktor Hovland and Collin Morikawa.

Anywho, here's your quick rundown of the sessions:

Friday Morning Foursomes

Friday Afternoon Fourballs

Saturday Morning Foursomes

Saturday Afternoon Fourballs

Sunday Singles

Overall History and Recent Ryder Cups

Brief history lesson for those not familiar…the first official Ryder Cup was played back in 1927 as a contest between American golfers and golfers from Great Britain…. but it's the British Open back in 1921 that we have to thank for it. No American had won a British Open to that point, so popular magazine Golf Illustrated and the PGA of America teamed up to raise funds to organize and send a dozen American golfers across the pond to play a tune-up tournament at Gleneagles before playing the Open at St Andrews.

From there, an idea was hatched a couple weeks before the trip to have those Americans play a team of Great Britain pros the day before the tune-up tournament. Eventually the dozen was shrunk down to 10 a side, and they played a one day match play event - 5 foursomes matches in the morning and 10 singles matches in the afternoon. Great Britain cleaned up 10.5 to 4.5 on their home turf, but it was an American named Jock Hutchison who ended up winning the Open two weeks later. So in some ways, mission accomplished.

From there, exhibition matches between teams of players were tossed around for a few years including a match led by Walter Hagen in 1926, but eventually an English businessman named Samuel Ryder donated a trophy and the two countries' respective PGA's got their ducks in a row and hosted the first Ryder Cup in Worcester, MA in 1927. The US would win 9.5 to 2.5, and the two sides would swap wins with the home side coming out victorious until a little thing called World War II put the Ryder Cup on hiatus.

From there, it was American dominance. After WWII, they walked away with the Ryder Cup in 18 of the next 19 editions, despite Irish players joining the mix in 1947. The GB&I side was expanded to include all of Europe in 1979, creating a far more competitive playing field. Europe is 11-9-1 since that change, and you'll hear all week about how they've won the last 6 on European soil too.

It's time for the Americans to fix that. Anyways, here's more info on historical records and recent Ryder Cups.

The Format and Schedule

The format is as such: 

28 points are up for grabs. As the current holders of the Ryder Cup, USA only needs 14 of them to retain the cup (dumbest rule going, as I talked about here), and the Europeans need 14.5 to take it back. There are 4 team play sessions played over Friday and Saturday under two formats: Foursomes (more commonly known as alternate shot) and Fourballs (also known as best ball). The easy way to differentiate the two given their similar names is to remember that in Fourballs, there are literally four balls in play. Simple as that, dummy. In each of those 4 sessions, there are 4 matches, each worth 1 point. Then on Sunday you've got 12 singles matches to bring it home. 

Obviously with this being in Rome, there are gonna be some late evenings/early mornings (depending on how you look at it.

The schedule and TV coverage is as such:

Friday (morning foursomes, afternoon fourballs): USA Network (1:30 AM - Noon ET)

Saturday (morning foursomes, afternoon fourballs): USA Network (1:30 am - 3 am ET), NBC (3 am to Noon ET)

Sunday (singles): NBC (5:30 am to 1 PM ET)

The Course

Ramsey Cardy. Getty Images.

Marco Simone is a brilliant venue for a Ryder Cup, and a tough walk. It may not be terribly long at just a hair under 7,200 yards for a par 71, and on paper that is just how the Europeans like it. They designed a target golf course in Paris 5 years ago that diminished the Americans' distance advantage off the tee and wiped the floor with us. I still have nightmares of Fleetwood and Molinari methodically ball-striking their way through Le Golf National. 

But this course plays a bit longer than the number. It's incredibly hilly (great for spectators) and is full of uneven lies. It's also pretty wide open, leaving it exposed to the elements… including wind off the Mediterranean roughly 25 miles away. The course is lined with thick fescue and undulations that can leave balls in some awkward spots. There's also a high degree of risk/reward, as there should be in match play. There's lakes, ponds, plenty of doglegs and a few short par 4's where you can take the aggressive route and put some pressure on the opponent. 

And of course, some penal rough. It wouldn't be a big time golf tournament without one of these videos…

The finish stretch is unreal too. Drivable par 4 16th (as discussed below), short par 3 with a spicy 3-tiered green, and a par 5 finish. Love a good par 5 finish.

If you have 15 minutes to burn, here's every single hole at Marco Simone, courtesy of Golf Digest.

Best Hole - 16th Par 4, 352 Yards

16 is getting all the love heading into this tournament, and rightfully so. Dogleg right, drivable par 4 for the longer guys with danger all down the right side. Jon Rahm has gotta be licking his chops visualizing that hellacious power fade into this green complex. And even a lay up off the tee is no picnic. Bunker smack dab in the middle of the fairway leaves the safest layup to a downhill lie to the right, which can be tough to land and stop on a dime with a wedge. Plus it's just a beautiful golf hole. Matches will be won and lost here, and it kicks off a fantastic finishing stretch.

The Weather 

Just a lovely glisten out there. Modest winds. No inclement weather in sight. Gonna be glorious out there.

The Trophy 

Harry How. Getty Images.

Simply put, it's a thing of beauty. Iconic as they come. When you see a silhouette of it, you know exactly what you're looking at. Looks great on a polo or a hat too. Easy 10/10. 

The Teams

Two years ago, I wrote a whole bunch about the players here. Danny Raps did an awesome job of that on Monday, so I'll just leave that here, and throw their Ryder Cup records below courtesy of CBS Sports

Team USA

Team Europe

I'll wrap up the blog with this. It's a joke that the Europeans are suddenly the favorite in this thing. For most of the past 2 years, USA has been well over a -200 favorite to win this thing, and suddenly in recent weeks a ton of steam has come to the Europeans' side to the point where they are now slight favorites. 

Yes, there's a ton of history on Europe's side with the whole "haven't won across the pond since 1993" thing

Yes, they have the advantage of designing the course to their strengths and have the backing of the hometown crowd

Yes, the best on that side appears to be in better form than 2 years ago, with Rahm, Rory, and Hovland all looking like dawgs

Yes, the American side that dominated at Whistling Straits has had some defections due to LIV, including DJ and Bryson

But I simply don't give a shit. The Americans are so so so much deeper and have all the cohesiveness of 2 years ago. Cantlay and X are going to be a wrecking crew yet again. Scheffler may have struggled with the putter all year but he's a lowkey match play savant. This course is an exhausting walk. That lends itself way more to the depth of the American side, who may not trot any of their guys out there for all 5 sessions. You can damn near guarantee that their big 3 will be out there for all 5, and they're going to be worn down come Sunday.

It's gonna be tight. It's gonna be close. It's gonna come down to the final matches Sunday. But the Americans are going to prevail here and we're all going to get stinky rich off it. 

2 years ago Riggs made the mistake of rooting for Europe because we left Kisner at home and that blew up in his face in hilarious fashion. This year we've got the Big J trying to take the objective route by picking Europe to win. I'm not saying he shouldn't be let back into the country, but I'm sure plenty of people are. I can't blame them.

This is the year things change. Americans win 15-13.

Let's. Fucking. Go.

PS: Initial pairings are out, and I am so fired up to kick things off.

PPS: If you're in the Baltimore area, feel free to get involved for a little Sunday funday.