The 43rd Ryder Cup Matches will be held in the United States on September 24 to 26, 2021, on the Straits course at Whistling Straits, Haven, Wisconsin. Team Europe is the reigning cup holder after its 17½–10½ victory over Team USA in 2018 at Le Golf National. Due to several tournaments, including a number of majors, shifting their schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ryder Cup was originally scheduled to take place only five days after the final round of the rescheduled U.S. Open. On July 8, 2020, the PGA of America announced the postponement the event to September 24 to 26, 2021 because of the pandemic. The next Ryder Cup will now be held in 2023 and further odd years, while the Presidents Cup was also rescheduled into 2022 and further even years, resetting the yearly rotation of both events to how they were scheduled before the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Format
The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format will be as follows:
On the first two days there are 4 foursome matches and 4 fourball matches with the home captain choosing which are played in the morning and which in the afternoon. With a total of 28 points available, 14½ points are required to win the Cup, and 14 points are required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. All matches are played to a maximum of 18 holes.
The United States qualification rules were announced on February 20, 2019. The qualification rules are similar to those used for the 2018 Ryder Cup. The majority of the team are selected from the Ryder Cup points list which is based on prize money won in important tournaments. Generally one point is awarded for every $1,000 earned. The team consists of:
The leading eight players on the Ryder Cup points list, gained in the following events
*To be announced after the 2020 Tour Championship, which concludes on September 1; as mentioned, it is unknown if this will change due to the move of the U.S. Open to the weekend before the Ryder Cup
Europe
The European team qualification rules were announced on May 8, 2019. The number of captain's picks was reduced from four to three. The team will consist of:
The leading four players on the Race to Dubai Points List
*Points earned in all Race to Dubai tournaments starting in September 2019 with the BMW PGA Championship and ending with the BMW PGA Championship in September 2020. Points earned in the later events of 2020 will be multiplied by 1.5.
The leading five players, not qualified above, on the World Points List
*Total World Points earned in Official World Golf Ranking events starting in September 2019 with the BMW PGA Championship and ending with the BMW PGA Championship in September 2020. Points earned in the later events of 2020 will be multiplied by 1.5. No World points will be earned from tournaments staged opposite Rolex Series tournaments in both 2019 and 2020.
Three captain's picks
*To be announced in the week after the final qualifying event.
Teams
Captains
was named as the US captain on February 20, 2019; Stricker is a native of Edgerton, Wisconsin, near Madison. Stricker selected Jim Furyk as his first vice-captain. On May 11, 2020, Zach Johnson and Davis Love III were revealed as the next two vice-captains. Pádraig Harrington was named as the European captain on January 8, 2019. In September 2019, Harrington selected Robert Karlsson as his first vice-captain. In May 2020, he accidentally revealed his second vice-captain pick Luke Donald in an interview.
