How The 2025 Ryder Cup Teams Are Shaping Up

WITH the final major of the season out of the way the thoughts of most golf fans are now turning towards the Ryder Cup.

For those with aspirations of making Luke Donald’s European team, there are still some big events to come, tournaments that could change the make-up of the team. To a lesser degree, the same applies to Keegan Bradley and his US team.

Several players have already locked down their places but this seems as a good a time as any to take a look at how the final teams might look.

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Team Europe

The top six in the standings after the British Masters will be automatic choices, with Donald having six picks.

After The Open, this is how the top six looked:

Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka.

McIlroy has already secured his place - not that it was ever in any danger. The Northern Irishman once described the Ryder Cup as little more than an exhibition event. He doesn’t think that now.

He will be the heart and soul of the team, the player everybody else looks to. And trust me when I tell you that nobody wants a win on American soil more than McIlroy.

MacIntyre may not have won in 2025 but he has taken his game to the next level with a runner-up finish at the US Open and a wonderful performance at The Open - all the better because he had been so disappointed with his poor title defence at the Scottish Open the previous week.

The Scot thrived during his debut in Italy two years ago and will once again be an integral part of the team.

Hatton has got himself into a qualifying position despite only playing a handful of DP World Tour events. He plays on the LIV Tour but is certain to make Donald’s team.

Straka is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season. It is easy to underestimate him (and the Americans probably will) but the Austrian does everything well and is totally unflappable. Will be an asset - and will surprise a few people.

Like MacIntyre, Lowry has failed to win in 2025 but he has produced some BIG finishes and simply adores the Ryder Cup.

Fleetwood is still carrying scar tissue following his bitter disappointment at the Travelers Championship but he is a resilient character who will be a vital member of the team.

It is possible that the top six could change. In fact, it would be a surprise if it did not.

So who else is in contention?

The players in positions seven-12 after The Open are:

Rasmus Højgaard, Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland, Thomas Detry and Matt Wallace.

Rose nearly won The Masters and continues to defy the years and has surely secured his place in the team. The same applies to Aberg.

It may be a controversial view but unless he forces his way into the top six, I would not be picking Hovland on current form. Early in his career he was one of the most consistent players on the planet but he has tinkered with his swing and has definitely lost something.

I also believe that Detry and Wallace will miss out, and I don’t hold out much hope for Hojgaard either.

So we have Rose and Aberg.

Who else?

Matthew Fitzpatrick has now forced his way back into the conversation after two dreadful seasons. He performed superbly at the Scottish Open and Open Championship and is surely a certainty.

Personally, I would not pick Jon Rahm, but I reckon his place is secure.

That leaves two places up for grabs.

By picking Aberg two years ago, Donald proved he is not afraid to take a gamble. Is there anybody this time around who could make a similar impact? I believe there are two - Marco Penge and Kristoffer Reitan.

Penge is in 18th place in the standings while Reitan is a lowly 26th. If both men are chosen it will cause a stir but they have several things that mark them out as outstanding candidates - they both hit the ball miles, they are fearless and they make birdies for fun.

So my team is:

McIlroy, MacIntyre, Fleetwood, Hatton, Lowry, Straka. Rose, Aberg, Rahm, Fitzpatrick, Penge and Reitan.

Team USA

The top six after the BMW Championship will have secured their places. I have never been able to understand why the Americans don’t wait until the conclusion of the Tour Championship.

After The Open the six automatic qualifiers are:

Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, JJ Spaun, Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English.

There is nothing more to be said about Scheffler. He is head and shoulders above everybody else on both sides. But he was reduced to tears in Rome two years ago.

Schauffele has struggled for most of 2025 after a rib injury but his recent form has been pretty encouraging. Spaun, Henley and English are proven winners, but are any of them going to have the Europeans quaking in their boots? Probably not. I can’t wait to see DeChambeau - an event such as the Ryder Cup is made for him. And he has become a big-time player, somebody who routinely raises his game for the sport’s most important events.

The next six in the rankings are:

Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Bradley, Maverick McNealy and Brian Harman.

After his victory at the Travelers, Bradley surely has to pick himself. He should have been in the US team two years ago and is playing better now than in 2023.

Any European who watched Morikawa’s struggles at Royal Portrush will be hoping that he gets a captain’s pick. He looks lost right now.

Thomas is also not the player he was but he will definitely be chosen and is unlikely to let his country down.

I also reckon that Griffin is a certainty to be given a pick after a stellar season. But McNealy and Harman are likely to miss out. And there is surely no possibility that Patrick Reed, the so-called Captain America, will be considered. Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka is also going to miss out.

Bradley will not be afraid to make tough calls - I believe that he, Thomas and Griffin will be joined by Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns and Chris Gotterup, who has come from nowhere but is impossible to ignore after winning the Scottish Open and performing heroically at The Open.

And who will win? I still cannot see anything other than a European victory.

The USA team will look something like this:

Scheffler, Schauffele, Spaun, Henley, DeChambeau, English, Bradley, Thomas, Griffin, Cantlay, Burns and Gotterup.

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