How The Presidents Cup Is Different To The Ryder Cup

It’s easy to make comparisons between the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup, but there are some crucial differences between the two contests

The Presidents Cup trophy
There are some key differences betwee the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup share enough similarities to make it easy to compare the two contest, including the fact that each uses a match play format with fourball, foursomes and singles sessions. Meanwhile, each features two teams of 12 players.

However, there are some crucial differences between the two matches, giving each their own identity. Here are some of the most significant. 

The Teams

The International Team at the 2022 Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup features an International Team

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Both the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup feature two teams of 12, one of which is always the US, but their opposition differs between matches.

When the Ryder Cup began in 1927, it featured a US team against Great Britain. The US opposition became Great Britain and Ireland in 1973 before it expanded to include any European from 1979, which is how it remains today.

On the other hand, the Presidents Cup has always seen the Americans face an International Team comprising players from anywhere in the world except Europe, hence why you’ll never see players like Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm or Viktor Hovland in the Presidents Cup.

The Locations

Team Europe celebrates its Ryder Cup win at Marco Simone

Ryder Cup matches away from the US are always held in Europe

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Because of the different opposition the US faces in each match, the locations also have some differences.

Team Europe Ryder Cup home matches naturally take place within the continent, while home matches for the Presidents Cup International Team are held in countries around the world except Europe. For example, the 2024 match is being held at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada.

Team Selection Process

Scottie Scheffler during the 2022 Presidents Cup

Scottie Scheffler topped the US points list for the 2022 Presidents Cup

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The ways players are selected also differ between the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup.

The six automatic qualifiers of the Presidents Cup's International Team are based on their positions in the world rankings. The automatic qualifiers in the US Team earn their places via the number of FedEx Cup points each wins over the qualifying period.

In the Ryder Cup, the Europeans had used two points lists to determine automatic qualifiers – a European Points List based on Race to Dubai Ranking points and a World Points List based on Official World Golf Ranking points accrued during the qualifying period.

However, that will change in 2025, with a streamlined process involving a single Ryder Cup Points List, which will use a tournament banding structure, with some events offering more points than others.

The US has its own Ryder Cup Points List, offering points based on each $1,000 earned.

One thing that is the same between the selection processes of the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup is the number of automatic qualifiers in each team, six, with the captains completing their teams via six wildcards.

Format And Duration

Patrick Cantlay takes a tee shot in the Friday morning foursomes in the Ryder Cup

The Ryder Cup has differences to the Presidents Cup in both format and duration

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The Ryder Cup is played over three days, with a total of 28 matches. On Friday and Saturday, there are four fourball and four foursomes matches, and on Sunday, all 24 players compete in 12 singles matches.

That differs in the Presidents Cup. It is played over four days and has 30 matches in total. Each of the first two days of action features five matches of fourball or foursomes, with whichever isn’t used on the first day used on the second.

The third day resembles the first two days of the Ryder Cup, with eight matches of fourball and foursomes over morning and afternoon sessions.

The final day also follows the format for the final round of the Ryder Cup, featuring 12 singles matches.

Because the Presidents Cup has more matches, the winning team needs to reach 15.5 points rather than the 14.5 points needed to win the Ryder Cup outright.

Another difference comes in the event of a tie. In the Presidents Cup, it is shared in a tie, but if there's a tie in the Ryder Cup, the team that last won it retains the trophy.

Scheduling

Hideki Matsuyama takes a shot at the 2019 Presidents Cup

The 2019 Presidents Cup was one of the few times it has been held in an odd-numbered year

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While both the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup are biennial, the Presidents Cup is usually held in even-numbered years, while the Ryder Cup is traditionally held in odd-numbered years.

That changed for a number of editions in the first two decades of the 21st century. The 2001 Ryder Cup was postponed for a year following the 9/11 attacks, so it was held on even-numbered years until 2021. It was allowed to return to odd-numbered years after another unforeseen crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, forced its postponement in 2020.

During that period, the Presidents Cup reverted to odd-numbered years so as not to clash with the Ryder Cup.

The History

Tom Lehman with the trophy after Team USA's 1994 win

The Presidents Cup began in 1994, whereas the Ryder Cup started in 1927

(Image credit: Getty Images)

One of the biggest differences between the two competitions is the far longer history of the Ryder Cup. It began almost a century ago, in 1927. 

The Presidents Cup began in 1994 after it was formed to provide a stage for international players outside Europe. Meanwhile, each edition has an Honorary Chairman or Chairwoman, the head of state or the head of government of the host nation.

As for the trophies, the Ryder Cup was commissioned by English seed merchant Samuel A Ryder, who enlisted Mappin & Webb Co. to make it. He then donated it as the prize for the winning team in a match between players from the US and Great Britain - the first Ryder Cup.

It is made of gold in the form of a chalice with a figure of Abe Mitchell, who was a friend of Ryder's on the top.

The 24-carat gold Presidents Cup was created by Tiffany & Co and was spun by a spinner from five sterling silver circles into five shapes, which were put together by a silversmith to form a cup. 

The organizers of each contest are also different. The Presidents Cup is a creation of the PGA Tour, which still runs it, whereas the Ryder Cup is run organized between the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe.

Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.