Europe at the Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup. The elite golf tournament that pits the finest in Europe against the might of the United States every two years to lift the famous trophy.

Its origins date back to 1927 when it was originally battled out between Great Britain and USA, before including the whole of Europe in 1979, with competition for places in the team extremely fierce.

Since the United States’ opposition changed from Great Britain to Europe, we’ve seen a shift in power with the European’s winning 11 of the 20 tournaments they’ve competed in.

Since 1979, there’s been twelve different nations make up Team Europe at the Ryder Cup. But which nations and players have dominated the event over the years? BetVictor has all the answers.

Europe at the Ryder Cup takes an alternate analytical view into this prestigious competition, uncovering the numbers behind Team Europe from the very beginning right through to the present day.

Diving into the data looking at nations, points, tour records and individual performances, BetVictor’s Europe at the Ryder Cup provides insights into which countries and players have dominated the tournament over the years.

For the purposes of this campaign, we've omitted all result data from the 1979 Ryder Cup or earlier.

Europe at the Ryder Cup

Europe at the Ryder Cup

Key:
O = Overall
S = Singles matches
Fs = Foursome matches
Fb = Fourball matches
W = Matches won
L = Matches lost
H = Matches halved
Nation
Ryder Cups
Matches
Points
Points %
Fb H
Fb L
Fb W
Fs H
Fs L
Fs W
OH
OL
OW
SH
SL
SW
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The dominant nation for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup is England, boasting a huge 74 Ryder Cup appearances – comfortably outperforming their nearest competitors which come in the form of Spain (40).

The British Isles are all prominent in the standings with Scotland (35), Northern Ireland (16), Republic of Ireland (16) and Wales (10) all established nations at golfs top table, each with a significant number of appearances at the Ryder Cup.

However, when it comes to points it is again indeed England and Spain who come out on top after accumulating 141 and 94 respectively, with Scotland supporting in third position with 61 and Northern Ireland with 36, in fourth.

But one area where the leaders are behind their rivals is points percentage. With a total of 41%, they find themselves behind leaders Wales (59%), Belgium (53%), Germany (52%), Spain (51%), Northern Ireland (51%) and Italy (47%).

European Country Record

Nation
Appearances
Events
Players
Year Range
Most Capped Player
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England once again sets the pace when it comes to European country records since 1979, producing 28 players for team Europe which includes both Nick Faldo and Lee Westwood, with the pair accumulating 10 caps apiece.

Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland legends Pádraig Harrington (six) and Darren Clarke (five) both boast impressive numbers of caps at the tournament. Ryder Cup Icons such as Scotsman Sam Torrance and Welshman Ian Woosnam, also have eight caps apiece.

Germany may have only had two players in the team over the years, but despite this the legendary Bernhard Langer also managed to accumulate 10 caps to match the accomplishment of the English duo of Faldo and Westwood. Sergio Garcia of Spain is not far behind with nine to his name.

Belgium are the newest nation to achieve Ryder Cup royalty after debuting in the 2012 edition when Nicolas Colsaerts made history as part of that famous European win at Medinah Country Club.

Record European Point Winners

Nation
Name
First Year
Last Year
Ryder Cups
Matches
Points
Points Percentage
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Despite boasting the most appearances and two of the most capped players at the competition, England surprisingly find themselves down in fourth position when it comes to the record European point winners.

Spanish legend Sergio Garcia leads the way with 25.5 points from his 41 matches at the competition, whilst also claiming an impressive points percentage of 62%. Just behind him are the duo of German Bernhard Langer (24 points) and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie (23.5) who both boast plenty of top-level pedigree with 18 Ryder Cup appearances between them.

The remaining seven European point leaders are dominated by the British Isles with Lee Westwood, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose all up there. They’re joined by two more Spanish icons of the sport in the form of Seve Ballesteros and José María Olazábal.

Tour & Open Individual Wins

Toggle between the various data points to discover which members of Team Europe have dominated the world of golf away from the Ryder Cup, analysing their individual performance across each of the major competitions along with their records on various tours.

Nation
Name
First Year
Last Year
Euro Tour
Pga Tour
Asia Tour
Sunshine Tour
Challenge Tour
Other
Masters
PGA C'ship
US Open
Open C'ship
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