Which cities have sent the most golfers to the Ryder Cup?

Team Europe captain Luke Donald announced his picks yesterday for the showdown with Team USA later this month at Bethpage Black Golf Course. Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Hojgaard and Tyrrell Hatton had automatically qualified for the Ryder Cup spots, and Donald added Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick to the squad.

Donald’s selections didn’t surprise anyone, as all six of them were part of the squad that won the 2023 edition in Italy. In fact, the only one who didn’t play in Rome was Rasmus Hojgaard. His brother, Nicolai, however, was part of the winning team. After this announcement, if you're interested in backing Team Europe to retain the trophy at 11/8, check out our bet calculator to see how much you stand to win.

At AceOdds, we decided to take a look at which European cities have sent the most Ryder Cup participants. We looked at all the players who have represented Team Europe over the years and mapped out their birthplaces to determine the cities that have a knack for producing top golfers.

Of course, this list is heavily skewed to the British Isles as the Ryder Cup opened up to continental Europe in 1979. That being said, there are cities in the list that surprised us.

Sheffield leads the way in producing Ryder Cup golfers

Of all the cities in Europe, Sheffield is the most prolific when it comes to producing Ryder Cup golfers. The city has sent five representatives so far in a bid to defeat Team USA.

Percy Alliss was the first one to hail from Sheffield. Interestingly, his son Peter also took part in the Ryder Cup, but his birthplace was Berlin. The latest golfer with origins in Sheffield is Matt Fitzpatrick, who was part of the triumphant team in Rome in 2023.

London, Dublin and Madrid are tied for second place, having sent four golfers each. Neil Coles, Jimmy Hitchcock, Reg Horne and Peter Oosterhuis hail from London. The Irish capital is represented by the likes of Pádraig Harrington, Paul McGinley, John O’Leary and Philip Walton. Madrid can boast of the Garrido father-son duo (Antonio and Ignacio), José Rivero and José María Cañizares. Spain’s most successful golfers, Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm, do not stem from Madrid.

The third most prolific city is an interesting one, as it is Burnham-on-Sea, with three golfers coming from the seaside town - the trio of Whitcombe brothers.

Countries with the most representatives

When it comes to nations, there’s no competition for England who have sent 76 golfers to play at the Ryder Cup. England is followed by Scotland (23) and Ireland (12).

Since the tournament opened up to continental Europe, Spain and Sweden have been the most well-represented countries from mainland Europe, sending 12 and 11 golfers, respectively.

Norway has only sent one representative, Viktor Hovland - the same as Guernsey.

Read more as we examine which clubs have the longest distance to travel in the Champions League this season