Team Cup: Schedule, format and players involved in...

Europe will look to say a historic Ryder Cup win on American soil later this 12 months, with 20 gamers hoping to function in Luke Donald’s aspect battling it out this week in a particular three-day crew competitors.

The ‘Group Cup’ sees DP World Tour golfers from Nice Britain and Eire tackle gamers from Continental Europe in a singular contest, held at Abu Dhabi Golf Resort and reside on Sky Sports activities Golf on Friday.

Who’s enjoying in it? How does the format work? Will the identical gamers be concerned within the Ryder Cup? This is all the pieces you have to know concerning the match…

What’s the Group Cup?

The Group Cup is a crew match on the DP World Tour, the place 10 gamers from Nice Britain and Eire tackle 10 from Continental Europe in a three-day match play occasion.

Justin Rose and Francesco Molinari will function enjoying captains of the 2 groups, with the occasion added to the DP World Tour schedule to provide gamers extra expertise in Ryder Cup-style competitions.

Donald chosen the 2 line-ups, in session with the 2 captains, forward of him taking cost of Group Europe in opposition to the USA within the Ryder Cup this September at Bethpage Black.

How did gamers qualify?

The main 4 out there gamers from the 2024 Race to Dubai rankings secured their spots in every crew, with 5 captain’s picks on either side introduced by Donald after the season-ending DP World Tour Championship.

The ultimate member of every aspect was then named after the Nedbank Golf Problem, the third occasion of the 2025 Race to Dubai, with each groups containing a mixture of former Ryder Cup gamers and a few of the DP World Tour’s rising stars.

Who performs for Nice Britain and Eire?

Tyrrell Hatton is the one LIV Golf participant concerned as he seems to be to make a fourth consecutive Ryder Cup look later this 12 months, with Tommy Fleetwood, Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship winner Paul Waring and Matt Wallace all qualifying robotically.

Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin – who earned twin membership on the PGA Tour – two-time DP World Tour winner Jordan Smith, Laurie Canter and Aaron Rai are a part of Rose’s line-up, with Matthew Jordan finishing the GB and Eire crew.

What about for Continental Europe?

Thorbjorn Olesen, who represented Europe on the 2018 Ryder Cup, was one of many 4 automated qualifiers for Molinari’s aspect, with Rasmus Højgaard, Niklas Nørgaard and Italian Matteo Manassero additionally securing spots through their Race to Dubai rating.

Matthieu Pavon – the primary Frenchman to win on the PGA Tour in additional than 100 years – Antoine Rozner, Ryder Cup participant Nicolai Hojgaard and Problem Tour No 1 Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen function, with Molinari a enjoying captain and Romain Langasque the ultimate choice.

What’s the format?

Just like the Ryder Cup, the Group Cup is a three-day match play crew occasion comprising fourballs, foursomes and singles, though the large distinction is that each participant performs in each session.

The 2 10-man groups will go head-to-head throughout one session of fourballs on Friday and two classes of foursomes on Saturday, with 5 matches in every session and all value a most of 1 level.

Foursomes sees two golfers from one crew compete in opposition to a pair from the opposite, with crew members alternating between pictures and every crew utilizing one ball. Fourballs sees every participant use his personal ball, with the bottom rating from every pair counting for the rating for his or her aspect.

Each participant then returns for the Sunday singles, with a complete of 25 factors on provide throughout the three days.

Who has impressed on this occasion earlier than?

The Group Cup – previously often known as the Hero Cup – was first performed in January 2023, with Molinari main Continental Europe to a 14½ -10½ victory over a GB and Eire crew captained by Tommy Fleetwood.

The competitors shares similarities with the Seve Trophy, named after Seve Ballesteros and held eight occasions between 2000 and 2013, which gave captaincy expertise to future Ryder Cup skippers Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sir Nick Faldo, Paul McGinley and Thomas Bjorn.

What does this imply for the Ryder Cup?

Six gamers who featured within the 2023 model of this occasion went on to characterize Group Europe within the Ryder Cup later that 12 months, with Fleetwood – the enjoying captain for Nice Britain and Eire – claiming the profitable level within the 16.5-11.5 success over Group USA in Rome.

Shane Lowry and Hatton had been each a part of Fleetwood’s crew, together with Robert MacIntyre forward of his maiden Ryder Cup look, whereas Nicolai Hojgaard and Sepp Straka had been each within the Continental Europe line-up.

It’s seemingly that a number of gamers concerned within the Group Cup will probably be representing Group Europe this September in New York, the place Donald’s aspect want to declare a primary away victory for the reason that ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012.

How can I watch the Group Cup?

Sky Sports activities will present full reside protection from all three days of the occasion, the primary in 2025 on the DP World Tour, with the reside motion getting beneath means on Friday from 7am on Sky Sports activities Golf.

Saturday’s double session begins at 2.30am, instantly after the conclusion of the second spherical of the PGA Tour’s Sony Open in Hawaii, with the second foursomes session anticipated to be reside from 7am.

The Sunday singles start on the earlier time of 6.30am, when you can download the Sky Sports App to comply with a devoted weblog that gives reside textual content commentary, highlights, scores and evaluation from all three days.

Viewers can comply with the protection on the transfer through SkyGo, whereas non-Sky subscribers can get Sky Sports to maintain up with protection or stream the biggest moments on NOW. The DP World Tour is solely reside all through the 2025 season on Sky Sports activities Golf.