Some History And Facts - The Ryder Cup Is Back!

If you have been watching any decent sports or satellite TV channel at this time of year you will have undoubtedly gathered that it is that time of year again for the Ryder Cup Matches.

The Ryder Cup is a Premium Golf competition, steeped in history that is played out every two years between teams representing the very best golfing professionals of the United States and Europe.

The tournament actually came about after an exhibition game in 1926 at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England. Here, on their East Course, two teams gathered, both a British PGA team and a team from the US also containing some professionals.

Due to its success, a proper inaugural event was decided to be staged the following year in 1927, and a cup was cast for this brand new competition. This cup would be donated by the mayor of St. Albans whose name was Samuel Ryder. It is from here, where the cup's name was derived from.

As stated this was to be a biennial competition and the winners of the cup would be able to enjoy the fruits of their victory for two years. The early matches were pretty even, but after 1945, with the end of the Second World War a sustained run of good form prevailed for the Americans.

Since the outcomes of the Ryder Cup were now becoming a formality with the inevitable American victory, both countries figured a new dimension should be added by changing a British and Irish team to a fully blown European one.

At the time of 1979, this made particular good sense as a new Spanish pro golfing sensation Seve Ballesteros was hitting the headlines and they could re-invigorate their competition with the Spaniard's star status attracting headlines, along with countries such as Germany, France, Italy, Denmark and Sweden, being added along the way. This has worked to great effect in redressing the balance, now it's the American's turn to play catch up!