The 2023 Hero Cup format has been announced for the inaugural edition of the event, which is the European Tour-owned team event pitting 10-man teams against each other, to be played at Abu Dhabi Golf Club in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The Hero Cup field consists of two 10-person teams. The Great Britain and Ireland team is captained by Tommy Fleetwood, with the continental Europeans led by Francesco Molinari. Both captains will compete in the event.
For both sides, the teams were made in a collaboration with the DP World Tour and the two captains.
The Hero Cup format is a three-day event with 22 total matches that start on Friday.
On Friday, there is one session of fourballs (best ball) pitting the two teams against each other.
On Saturday, there are two sessions: one of foursomes (alternate shot) in the morning followed by a foursomes session in the afternoon.
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 10 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 14.5 points will win the Hero Cup. In the event of a tie after 28 matches, the match ends in a tie and the Europeans retain the cup.
The players on the winning and losing teams do not earn money.
