Ryder Cup 2016: Live results, scores, match schedule, format, and more

Golf fans get four major championships every year. But only once every two years do they get an opportunity to enjoy the stars of the game in the world’s premier team competition.

The Ryder Cup is here.

Two 12-man teams from the USA and Europe will meet at major championship venue Hazeltine National just outside the Twin Cities in Chaska, Minnesota, to compete for Samuel Ryder’s trophy for the 41st time. It is two days of two-man partner competitions on Friday and Saturday mornings and afternoons, followed by 12 one-on-one matches on Sunday.

The competition can trace its earliest roots to an informal competition between golf professionals from the United States and Great Britain in 1921. That led to the first official Ryder Cup in 1927 between the US and Great Britain and Ireland. At Jack Nicklaus’ urging, continental Europe was added to the competition to make the event more competitive and take on a bigger profile in 1979 -- and that led to the massive, raucous international event that fans know today.

But despite the Americans early domination, the Ryder Cup’s recent history has been owned by the Euros. The US team has only won the trophy once (2008) since the famed Battle at Brookline in 1999 — and most of the European wins over that time period have come by large margins, including the last meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland in 2014. That led to the creation of the US Ryder Cup Task Force, the group that was slated with the task of revamping the American team golf process and get the team back to the glory of past years.

This year’s edition features an American team that captain Davis Love III called the “best golf team ever assembled” — but it’s hard for many pundits to even believe they’re the best team in this competition. A number of the stars of the European roster are coming off career years, while some of the Americans have stumbled through the 2016 season. But the Euros come to Chaska with five rookies on the roster, how will they handle the hostile crowds in Minnesota? There’s a reason the Americans were the betting favorites early in the week.

The Ryder Cup, of course, isn’t a stroke play event. This is a team, match-play event with variations over the three days.

On Friday and Saturday, the Ryder Cup consists of eight two-a-side team matches, four in the morning and four in the afternoon. The morning format features what will be called “foursomes” — but what the casual player might know better as alternate shot. Two players playing the same ball, switching off until the ball is holed. The afternoon matches are what’s known as Four Ball — or maybe Best Ball at your local club. All four players play their own ball through the hole, and the best score between the two Americans and two Europeans wins the hole for their respective side. Four players on each team will sit out each session.

But Sunday is where the Cup usually swings and things get wild. All 12 players in the field compete in one-on-one match play competition.

Friday Morning Foursomes

Spieth & Reed (USA) def. Rose & Stenson (EUR), 3&2.

Mickelson & Fowler (USA) def. McIlroy & Sullivan (EUR), 1-up

Walker & Johnson (USA) def. Garcia & Kaymer (EUR), 4&2

Johnson & Kuchar (USA) def. Pieters & Westwood (EUR), 5&4

Friday Afternoon Fourballs

Stenson & Rose (EUR) def. Spieth & Reed (USA), 5&4

Garcia & Cabrera-Bello (EUR) def. Moore & Holmes (USA), 3&2

Snedeker & Koepka (USA) def. Kaymer & Willett (EUR), 5&4

McIlroy & Pieters (EUR) def. Johnson & Kuchar (USA), 3&2

Saturday Morning Foursomes

McIlroy & Pieters (EUR) def. Fowler & Mickelson (USA), 4&2

Snedeker & Koepka (USA) def. Stenson & Fitzpatrick (EUR), 3&2

Rose & Wood (EUR) def. Walker & Johnson (USA), 1-up

Reed & Spieth (USA) vs. Garcia & Cabrera Bello (EUR), halved

Saturday Afternoon Fourballs

McIlroy & Pieters (EUR) def. Koepka & Johnson (USA), 3&1

Holmes & Moore (USA) def. Willett & Westwood (EUR), 1-up

Mickelson & Kuchar (USA) def. Kaymer & Garcia (EUR), 2&1

Reed & Spieth (USA) def. Rose & Stenson (EUR), 2&1

Sunday singles

Patrick Reed (USA) def. Rory McIlroy (EUR), 1-up

Henrik Stenson (EUR) def. Jordan Spieth (USA), 3&2

Thomas Pieters (EUR) def. J.B. Holmes (USA), 3&2

Rickie Fowler (USA) def. Justin Rose (EUR), 1-up

Rafa Cabrera Bello (EUR) def. Jimmy Walker (USA), 3&2

Phil Mickelson (USA) vs. Sergio Garcia (EUR), halved

Ryan Moore (USA) def. Lee Westwood (EUR), 1-up

Brandt Snedeker (USA) def. Andy Sullivan (EUR), 3&1

Dustin Johnson (USA) def. Chris Wood (EUR), 1-up

Brooks Koepka (USA) def. Danny Willett (EUR), 5&4

Martin Kaymer (EUR) def. Matt Kuchar (USA), 1-up

Zach Johnson (USA) def. Matthew Fitzpatrick (EUR), 4&3