Presidents Cup - Format and Strategy

Format and Strategy

The scoring system of the event is match play. The format is drawn from the Ryder Cup, consisting of 12 players per side and a non-playing captain, usually a highly respected golf figure. The captains are responsible for pairing the teams in the doubles events, which consist of both alternate shot and best ball formats (also known as "foursome" and "fourball" matches respectively). However, unlike the Ryder Cup, all 12 players must play foursome and fourball matches on Thursday and Friday (six matches per session, unlike the Ryder Cup with four matches), and only two players will sit out each session of Saturday matches (five matches per Saturday session, compared to four), and each player must play a one-on-one, singles match on Sunday.

Each match, whether it be a doubles or singles match, is worth one point. In the doubles matches a half-point is awarded to each team in the event of a tie. With 11 foursome doubles matches, 11 fourball doubles matches and 12 singles matches that represents a total of 34 points. To win the Presidents Cup a team must accrue a total of 17.5 points.

The format of the Presidents Cup differs from the Ryder Cup mainly in that it includes six extra matches, which prevents a team from hiding its weaknesses. By having all 24 players on the course for all three days there cannot be a situation such as in the 1999 Ryder Cup when Europe kept three players (Jarmo Sandelin, Jean van de Velde and Andrew Coltart) on the bench for the 16 fourball and foursome matches on the first two days.