2016 Ryder Cup consisting of the last three Ryder Cup captains: Paul McGinley, José María Olazábal, Colin Montgomerie, another ex-Ryder Cup player David Howell and the European Tour chief executive George O'Grady. Davis Love III was named the United States captain on February 24, 2015. He had previously captained the 2012 team. Each captain selects a number of vice-captains to assist him during the tournament. Clarke selected Thomas Bjørn, Pádraig Harrington, and Paul Lawrie as European team vice-captains in May 2016. He added Ian Poulter in June and Sam Torrance in July. Tom Lehman was named as a United States vice-captain at the
1997 Ryder Cup was the first of six consecutive victories at home by Europe, a streak that remains intact through 2018. The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format used in 1997 was as follows: With a total of 28 points, 14½ points were required to win the Cup, and 14 points were required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes. The selection process for the European team remained largely unchanged from that used in 1995 with two captain's picks. If captain Ballesteros