2019 Presidents Cup format, match types and day-by-day games
Presidents Cup

2019 Presidents Cup format, match types and day-by-day games

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The 2019 Presidents Cup format has been announced for the 13th edition of the event, which is the PGA Tour-owned biennial event pitting 12-man teams against each other, to be played at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia.

The Presidents Cup field consists of two 12-person teams. The American team is captained by Tiger Woods, with the Internationals -- pulled from countries outside of the United States and Europe -- led by Ernie Els. The top eight players from the teams' respective qualifying standings earned automatic berths. Each captain was allowed to appoint four wild-card picks to round out the teams.

The Presidents Cup format is a four-day event with 30 total matches that start on Thursday.

On Thursday and Friday, there is a single five-match session each day.

On Thursday, the matches are fourball, also known as best ball. On Friday, the matches are foursomes, also known as alternate shot.

On Saturday, there are two four-match sessions. The first session is fourball, and the second session is foursomes.

Foursomes is also called alternate shot. On each hole, one player (Player A) from each team hits their team's respective tee shots. Then the other player (Player B) from each team hits the second shot. Then the third shot is hit by Player A, and so on, until the ball is holed. The teams compare scores, and the team with the lower score wins the hole. Whichever team wins the most holes wins the match.

Fourball is also called best ball. On each hole, all four players play out the hole using their own ball, just like they were playing individually. At the end of each hole, each team uses the better score of the two partners and compares it to the other team. The team with the better score wins the hole. Whichever team wins the most holes wins the match.

On Sunday, there will be 12 singles matches. Players compete against each other one-on-one, and the player to win the most holes wins the match.

Each match is worth 1 point toward the total. If a match is tied after 18 holes, the match is halved, and both teams earn 0.5 points toward their tally. The first team to earn 15.5 points will win the Presidents Cup. In the event of a tie after 30 matches, there will be a playoff to determine a winner.

The players on the winning and losing teams do not earn money.

About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is the founder, owner and operator of Golf News Net.

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