Ryder Cup Trivia
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67 free Ryder Cup trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Sep 2026.
Every two years the Ryder Cup turns golf, the most individual of sports, into a team game played for no prize money and enormous pride. This Ryder Cup trivia quiz covers the whole story, from the seed merchant who donated the trophy and the first official match at Worcester in 1927, through Great Britain's long losing years, the arrival of Seve Ballesteros and continental Europe in 1979, and the modern era of Brookline, Medinah, Whistling Straits, Rome and Bethpage. The early questions are ones any weekend golf fan can get: how often the cup is played, what foursomes and fourballs mean, what happens on a 14–14 tie. Then it gets harder, with the 1969 concession, the War on the Shore, the envelope rule, record point-scorers and the captains who won both home and away. The final stretch is for the true fans who know where the first Team Europe played and who Samuel Ryder hired as his personal coach. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and the individual match reports, so you can trust what you learn here. There are 67 questions, they are free and no sign-up is needed. If you like it, try our Masters and Golf quizzes next.
30 of 67 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How often is the Ryder Cup played?
Every two years
Every two years is the schedule, though World War II halted the matches, with none played from 1939 to 1945.
Q 02Samuel Ryder, who donated the trophy, made his fortune selling what?
Garden seeds
Garden seeds made his fortune: he sold them by post in penny packets that working people could afford.
Q 03The golfer figure on top of the Ryder Cup trophy is modelled on which British professional?
Abe Mitchell
Abe Mitchell was picked to captain Britain in the first official match in 1927, but appendicitis kept him from making the trip.
Q 04The first official Ryder Cup was held at which venue?
Worcester Country Club, Massachusetts
Worcester Country Club, Massachusetts hosted it, after Britain's team crossed the Atlantic on the liner Aquitania, a six-day voyage.
Q 05Which English club staged the 1926 match that inspired the Ryder Cup?
Wentworth
Wentworth staged it, and Samuel Ryder had meant it as the first Ryder Cup, but no cup was awarded there.
Q 06Who captained the United States in 1927 and became the first winning captain to lift the cup?
Walter Hagen
Walter Hagen had also helped set up the unofficial 1926 match that led to the Ryder Cup, and he captained the US in each of the first six.
Q 07Which country supplied the first two continental European players, in 1979?
Spain
Spain's pair were the first continental Europeans in the matches, yet the United States still won comfortably, 17–11.
Q 08The first Ryder Cup with a Team Europe, in 1979, was played at which US resort?
The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier, a West Virginia resort, hid a secret Cold War bunker built to shelter Congress, until a 1992 newspaper exposé ended the program.
Q 09How did Europe first complete its Ryder Cup team in 1979?
Wild cards
Wild cards. Captain John Jacobs used them on Peter Oosterhuis and Des Smyth, and the Americans copied the idea only in 1989.
Q 10Who sets the Ryder Cup foursomes and fourballs order?
Home captain
Home captain. At Bethpage in 2025 the US captain opened both days with foursomes, yet Europe won both those sessions.
Q 11Which format is played on the final day, when every team member takes part?
Singles
Singles. In 2002 Europe's captain sent his strongest players out first, and the front-loading tactic carried Europe to victory.
Q 12In a foursomes match, what do the two teammates do?
Alternate shots using one ball
Alternate shots using one ball. So in match play, a partner who plays out of turn costs the pair the hole.
Q 13In fourballs, how is each hole's team score decided?
The better of the two players' scores
Q 21Who captained Europe to its first Ryder Cup victory, in 1985?
Tony Jacklin
Tony Jacklin. In seven Ryder Cups as a player he never finished on a winning side, then as captain he ended a 28-year wait.
Q 22Whose putt on the 18th green secured Europe's first Ryder Cup win, in 1985?
Sam Torrance
Sam Torrance. He holed it after his opponent, Andy North, had driven into the water on that hole.
Q 23Which English resort has hosted the Ryder Cup four times, more than any other venue?
The Belfry
The Belfry. Nick Faldo made a hole-in-one there in 1993, yet the United States won that year.
The better of the two players' scores. So once one partner has completed a hole, the other does not need to hole out.
Q 14If the overall score finishes tied at 14–14, what happens?
The defending champion keeps the cup
The defending champion keeps the cup. In 1989 the United States won the last four matches to draw level, yet Europe kept the trophy.
Q 15When US Ryder Cup players were first paid in 2025, where did $300,000 of each $500,000 go?
To charities they chose
To charities they chose. Several players, including Xander Schauffele, said they would give away the other $200,000 as well.
Q 16Which women's team event is the equivalent of the Ryder Cup?
Solheim Cup
It is named after club-maker Karsten Solheim and was first played in 1990.
Q 17Which event pits the United States against an International team ineligible for the Ryder Cup?
Presidents Cup
Presidents Cup. In 2022 the International team had to play without Cameron Smith, barred after he joined LIV Golf.
Q 18Which American golfer's fiery Ryder Cup displays earned him the nickname 'Captain America'?
Patrick Reed
Patrick Reed. After the 2018 defeat he publicly criticised his captain and Jordan Spieth for breaking up their partnership.
Q 19Where was the famous tied 1969 Ryder Cup played?
Royal Birkdale
Royal Birkdale. US captain Sam Snead was unhappy that the final putt was conceded, because he wanted Britain made to hole it.
Q 20Great Britain's last win before the Europe era came in 1957 at which Yorkshire course?
Lindrick
Lindrick. Dropped for the final day, Harry Weetman publicly attacked captain Dai Rees and was suspended by Britain's PGA.
Q 24Where did the United States lose a Ryder Cup on home soil for the first time, in 1987?
Muirfield Village, Ohio
Muirfield Village, Ohio. The home captain had designed the course himself, and Europe won on it 15–13.
Q 25After snapping his putter in 1987, what did Ben Crenshaw putt with for the rest of his match?
His 1-iron
His 1-iron. He still took Eamonn Darcy to the last hole before losing 1 up, as Europe won on American soil for the first time.
Q 26Which resort staged the 1991 'War on the Shore'?
Kiawah Island
Kiawah Island. After winning, the Americans celebrated by dunking one another in the Atlantic.
Q 27Whose missed putt on the final hole in 1991 handed the cup back to the United States?
Bernhard Langer
Bernhard Langer. He had just conceded Hale Irwin's short bogey putt, leaving himself needing to hole his own.
Q 28Which American's long-running feud with Seve began in 1989 and boiled over at Kiawah in 1991?
Paul Azinger
Seve's verdict two years later: 'The American team has 11 nice guys. And Paul Azinger.'
Q 29Corey Pavin caused controversy in 1991 by wearing what?
A Desert Storm cap
A Desert Storm cap. Pavin said he wore it in support of the troops of the US-led coalition in the Gulf War.
Q 30In 1999, what did Europe's captain Mark James do with rookies Coltart, Sandelin and van de Velde before Sunday?
Benched them
Benched them. All three then lost their first Ryder Cup matches on Sunday, as the United States won the first six matches of the day.