Ryder Cup 2023: dates, teams, standings and everything we know about the golf tournament

Scottie Scheffler at the 2021 Ryder Cup

Every two years, the golf world gets the treat of the Ryder Cup, a match-play tournament that pits the best golfers from the US against the best from Europe and the UK. Well, 2023 is one of those years where we are getting Ryder Cup action.

Team USA looks to keep the Ryder Cup in their possession after a dominant performance against Team Europe in 2021 at Whistling Straits Golf Club in Wisconsin. To do so, they'll have to beat Team Europe on their home turf, as the event goes across the pond for this latest edition.

With the PGA Tour in the home stretch, here is everything you need to know about the Ryder Cup 2023, from when it takes place, to where and who is currently in line to participate in the event.

Ryder Cup 2023 dates

The Ryder Cup 2023 matches take place from Friday, September 29 to Sunday, October 1. 

Ryder Cup 2023 location

This edition of the Ryder Cup is taking place in Europe, specifically at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy. This is the first time that the Ryder Cup is taking place in Italy. 

Ryder Cup 2023 team standings

Team USA and Team Europe will be made up of 12 players each. Team USA fills out its roster with six automatic qualifiers based on points earned during the season. Team Europe gives three spots for points from the European Points List and another three based on World Points List (can’t be the same from the European Points List). The remaining six spots for each team are then picked by the team captains.

Here are the current rankings of the top 12 players for Team USA:

Brian Harman at the Open Championship (Image credit: MB Media/Getty Images)

1. Scottie Scheffler - 25,741.735
2. Wyndham Clark - 13,366.120
3. Brian Harman - 10,194.539
4. Brooks Koepka - 9,421.145
5. Xander Schauffele - 8,671.984
6. Patrick Cantlay - 8,454.750
7. Max Homa - 8,264.479
8. Cameron Young - 7,679.308
9. Jordan Spieth - 7,482.046
10. Keegan Bradley - 7,422.341
11. Collin Morikawa - 7,116.813
12. Rickie Fowler - 6,892.091

Here are the current top six in each of the European Points List and World Points List for Team Europe (asterisks mark who would currently qualify from each list): 

European Points List

Rory McIlroy (Image credit: Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

1. Rory McIlroy - 4,033.55*
2. Jon Rahm - 3,417.23*
3. Robert MacIntyre - 1,743.57*
4. Yannik Paul - 1,652.9
5. Adrian Meronk - 1,614.21
6. Tommy Fleetwood - 1,534.37

World Points List 

Jon Rahm (Image credit: Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

1. Jon Rahm - 388.57
2. Rory McIlroy - 364.59
3. Viktor Hovland - 265.75*
4. Tyrrell Hatton - 195.51*
5. Tommy Fleetwood - 158.33*
6. Matt Fitzpatrick - 152.83

Ryder Cup 2023 captains

Each Ryder Cup team has a captain that in addition to filling out the team of 12 is responsible for arranging who plays with who and against who during the tournament.

For Team USA the captain is Zach Johnson. Johnson is a two-time major winner (the 2007 Masters and 2015 Open Championship) and previously played in five Ryder Cups, with an 8-6-2 record overall during those events. He previously served as a vice-captain for the team at the last two Ryder Cups.

Luke Donald is set to be Team Europe's captain. Luke Donald was a five-time winner on the PGA Tour and participated in the Ryder Cup four times throughout his career; Team Europe won all four years that Donald was part of the team. Can he keep the streak going now that he's a captain?

There are also a number of vice captains for each team. Team USA's announced vice captains include Steve Stricker, Davis Love III, Jim Furyk and Fred Couples; one more is expected to be announced. Team Europe's vice-captains are Thomas Bjorn, Edoardo Molinari and Nicolas Colsaerts.

Ryder Cup format

There are three days of Ryder Cup competition that determines who wins the event, with three variations of match play used for the tournament:

Four-ball: each member of a two-man team plays his own ball, with the lowest score of the hole for each team counting as the team’s official score. The team who has the lowest score on a hole wins that hole. If the two teams have the same score, then the hole is halved.

Foursomes: each two-man team plays one ball per hole, with the players taking turns until each hole is complete. Players alternate hitting tee shots. The team with the lowest score on a hole wins that hole. If the two teams have the same score, then the hole is halved.

Singles: every player from each team competes in 12 head-to-head matches. The player with the lowest score on a hole wins that hole. If the players have the same score, then the hole is halved. Thing to note, players can concede a hole to their opponent, meaning they let their opponent pick up their ball without putting it in the hole, giving them the score they would have made had the next stroke gone in the hole (i.e., if a player had a tap-in putt for birdie, the opponent conceding that would mean the player earns the birdie automatically).

Friday and Saturday during the Ryder Cup will consist of four matches of four-ball and four matches of foursomes each day, while Sunday will see 12 singles matches taking place. 

For match scoring, winning a hole gives a player/team one point, halving a hole means no one gets any points. Here’s a quick breakdown of how tallying points would work:

• Each match begins "all squared"
• If Team USA won the first hole, they would be up one in the match
• If Team Europe won the second hole, the match would then be all squared again
• If the team leading wins another hole before their opponent does, they increase their lead (two up, three up, etc.). Any hole won by the opponent decreases their lead
• If a hole is halved, the match remains at whatever score it was when the hole started

Whoever is leading the match after 18 holes wins the entire match and earns a point for their team. If a match is tied after 18 holes, then each team gets half a point. Matches can end before 18 holes if it is not mathematically possible for the other team to get the match back to all square at the conclusion of the 18th hole (for example, Team USA is up four holes with three to play).

There are 28 matches in total as part of the Ryder Cup. For Team Europe to win the Ryder Cup in 2023, they must earn at least 14 ½ points from all those matches. As the defending champion, Team USA can retain the cup if they earn at least 14 ½ points or if the event ends in a 14-14 tie.

How to watch the Ryder Cup 2023

In the US, the Ryder Cup 2023 is going to air on NBC and the Golf Channel on TV, while also being available to stream live on Peacock.

NBC is available with all traditional pay-TV subscriptions, as well as through a TV antenna or live TV streaming services like FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV. Golf Channel is a cable channel, but is still widely available through pay-TV subscriptions as well as the same four live TV streaming services as NBC.

Peacock is a standalone streaming app that does not require a cable subscription to watch. You can stream live sports with either Peacock's Premium or Premium Plus package.

In the UK, the Ryder Cup is going to be available to watch exclusively on Sky Sports Golf, which requires a Sky TV subscription.