Breakfast Ball #88: Start Your Engines

We have spent the last two weeks looking at the history and current state of Bethpage Black, the home of this year’s Ryder Cup.

Now, the teams. Sit down, get a nice cup of tea or coffee, and dive into this beefy newsletter.

3,000 words! I promise this will be the longest edition I ever write, but it is worth learning about the great players that will represent each team.

In This Week’s Newsletter:

Team Europe Profile: Can Luke’s lads ignore the noise and win an away Ryder Cup?

“We are looking forward to playing in front of a New York crowd. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be feisty. It’s going to be spirited.” - Luke Donald

It came as little surprise when Luke Donald was reappointed captain of the European Ryder Cup team. Having led Europe to victory in Rome with a blend of rigor, passion, and composure, he had already proven he possessed the exact qualities needed to guide the team into the cauldron of New York.

Luke is clearly looking for the same qualities from his team, selecting experience over youth with 11 of the 12 players that featured in 2023. The only rookie is Rasmus Højgaard, who is replacing his twin brother after spending the entire week in Rome with the team.

Bethpage may be one of the most difficult environments any Ryder Cup team has faced in the history of the event. Can this team overcome it?

The C-Suite

The 2023 Ryder Cup was the best of Rory McIlroy’s career, winning 4 points as the team cantered to victory. 2025 has been an unforgettable year for the Grand Slam champion, and a sixth Ryder Cup title would be quite a way to top it off.

Europe will need McIlroy to repeat some of his heroics from Rome to have a chance to win. It would be difficult to see a path to victory without the Northern Irishman amassing 3 or 4 points from his 5 matches, especially if he is paired with Tommy Fleetwood. That duo won both of their matches in Rome, and would be a perfect team to lead Europe out in any of the sessions.

Fleetwood arrives at the 2025 Ryder Cup as a different man: a PGA Tour winner. He has a strong Ryder Cup record, but his only appearance in an away Ryder Cup was the humbling 19-9 loss at Whistling Straits in 2021.

He is playing the best golf of his career, and will now see himself as one of the leaders of this team. Fleetwood is undefeated in foursomes, and will relish the pressure of a Friday morning foursomes match. He is yet another fantastic option for Luke Donald that could play all five matches.

Write it down right now. The first team leading Europe out on Friday at the 2025 Ryder Cup will be Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton. They have an undefeated record as a pair in three foursomes matches, and have gotten even closer as teammates on LIV Golf.

Rahm will take satisfaction from securing the 2025 LIV Golf season-long individual title, a reward for his relentless consistency. Yet, it’s notable that he achieved it without a single individual victory. For a two-time major champion, the prospect of finishing a year winless would mark uncharted territory. Still, with a Ryder Cup on the horizon, it’s a trade-off he would gladly make if it meant delivering another European triumph.

Tyrrell Hatton was a force at the 2023 Ryder Cup, going undefeated in four matches and delivering 3.5 points for Europe. Since moving to LIV Golf, his career has caught fire, with this season bringing the best major form of his career.

Though a late-season dip saw him fall outside the top 20 in his last four LIV events, Hatton found his groove again at the BMW Championship, closing with a Saturday 64 en route to a T5 finish. In full flight, his fiery competitiveness and elite ball-striking make him one of Luke Donald’s most valuable weapons.

These four players will be the leaders of this team, and Luke Donald will rely on each of them to bring home a majority of the 14 points needed to retain the Ryder Cup.

The Experienced Backbenchers

As the elder statesman on the 2023 Ryder Cup team, Justin Rose was given a task. Pair up with rookie Bob MacIntyre, and shepherd him through two fourball sessions. Rose accepted the role, despite the fact that it restricted his play time to only one session per day.

Then, Rose created one of the great Ryder Cup moments. Two down with two to play, Rose and MacIntyre won the 17th hole to push the match to the final green. With the entire team watching him, Justin Rose hit a perfect putt to halve the match, send the crowd into ruptures, and maintain Europe’s momentum. Rose has had a resurgent 2025, and may be asked to repeat this role with newcomer Rasmus Højgaard this time around.

Shane Lowry embodies everything the Ryder Cup stands for. Fiercely passionate and unflinchingly team-first, he wears his heart on his sleeve and brings an infectious energy to the European locker room. For Luke Donald, he is as valuable in the team room as he is on the course.

That said, Lowry still has something to prove when it comes to Ryder Cup performance. His form in the run-up hasn’t been sharp — his last top-10 finish came back in May at the Truist Championship — and questions remain about where he fits best in the lineup. As in Rome, it’s likely he’ll sit out foursomes, but his energy and experience make him a strong asset in fourballs and singles.

Sepp Straka is one of the absolute unknowns coming into the 2025 Ryder Cup. Despite amassing two victories on the PGA Tour this season, family issues led to him sitting out a couple of events toward the end of the year, and his form declined.

He returned for the Tour Championship, where he finished in dead last, four strokes behind his closest competitor. Straka deserves a spot on the team given his play earlier in the year, but his form is a worry.

The Young Guns

Ludvig Åberg and Viktor Hovland etched their names into Ryder Cup history in 2023 with a record-breaking 9&7 demolition of Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka — the largest margin of victory ever in the competition.

For Åberg, it was the stuff of dreams: he earned two points for Team Europe in Rome just four months after turning professional, instantly proving he belonged at the very highest level. His ball striking ability also makes him a perfect fit for Bethpage.

Reunited with Hovland, the Scandinavian duo will once again form one of Europe’s most formidable partnerships. And if history is any guide, they’ll be the pairing that no American wants to see opposite their name on the match sheet.

Bob MacIntyre comes into the 2025 Ryder Cup as a much-improved player. After winning the Canadian and Scottish Opens in 2024, he backed it up this year with his best ever major finish — runner-up at the U.S. Open.

Well-rounded and fearless, MacIntyre pairs solid fundamentals with a Scottish edge that should thrive in front of New York’s charged crowds. He’s my dark horse to be Europe’s standout player at Bethpage.

Rasmus Højgaard is the lone rookie on the European team, replacing his twin brother Nicolai in the lineup. He is one of the longest hitters on the planet, behind only Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau in the field. As mentioned in the newsletter last week, this is one of the most important skills to succeed at Bethpage Black. However, he only managed one top ten finish on the PGA Tour this season, playing in a pair alongside his brother at the Zurich Classic. He will need to display a more well-rounded game to contribute in New York.

Player Records:

Rory McIlroy: 7 appearances, 16-13-4 (wins, losses, ties)

Justin Rose: 6 appearances, 14-9-3

Tommy Fleetwood: 3 appearances, 7-3-2

Jon Rahm: 3 appearances, 6-3-3

Tyrrell Hatton: 3 appearances, 5-4-2

Matt Fitzpatrick: 3 appearances, 1-7-0

Shane Lowry: 2 appearances, 2-3-1

Viktor Hovland: 2 appearances, 3-4-3

Bob MacIntyre: 1 appearance, 2-0-1

Sepp Straka: 1 appearance, 1-2-0

Ludvig Åberg: 1 appearance, 2-2-0

Rasmus Højgaard: First appearance

U.S. Team Profile: Will talent translate to results this time around?

The age old story of the Ryder Cup is that the U.S. team is always more talented, but struggles to get over the line against the tightly knit Europeans. Europe have won 10 of the last 14 Ryder Cups, but in the same time period, U.S. golfers have won 52 majors, while Europeans have only won 43.

Patrick Cantlay tried to explain why this happens a few years back. “If you play enough gin (card game) hands, a one or two percent difference in skill translates to almost an assured win over many, many, many hands of gin," said Cantlay.

"But you could have a big difference between somebody, maybe a 60-to-40% skill level difference, and gin is still chancy enough to where you could play 10 hands and lose six or seven of the hands against someone that's much worse than you skill-wise."

The same storyline will dominate the lead up to this Ryder Cup. The U.S. team’s average world ranking is 11.3, while Team Europe’s is 23.3. Datagolf projects that the U.S. will be 0.25 strokes better per player per round based on their play over the last 6 months.

This team is expected to win a home Ryder Cup. They are under much more pressure than the Europeans. Can they handle it?

Ball Strikers Paradise

It helps having the undisputed best player on planet Earth on your team. Scottie Scheffler is playing in his third Ryder Cup, with a record of two wins, two losses, and three ties to date. He only won one point from four matches at Marco Simone in 2023, losing two and tying two. However, the two losses were heavy defeats in foursomes, a format you would expect Scheffler to thrive in.

Scheffler needs to be a leader on this team. He is (somehow) a better and more consistent golfer now than he was two years ago, and others in the team will expect him to win matches. If Europe can stifle his impact, that will be a huge move in the right direction.

However, team USA is a two-headed dragon in 2025. Bryson DeChambeau has the potential to absolutely dominate Bethpage Black, and will relish the opportunity to play on front of the New York crowd. He finished in the top 10 at three of the four majors this year, and also picked up a win at LIV Korea. Regardless of what happens, Bryson at Bethpage will be a story worth watching.

The Supporting Cast

It may be quite harsh to name Xander Schauffele as a part of the supporting cast, but 2025 has been a down year for the two-time major champion. He only made 15 starts in a season stunted by injury, and did not post any top 5 results. He and his wife welcomed their first child last week, which is fantastic news for them, but not great news for the U.S. Ryder Cup team. If Xander can find his 2024 form (and get a few nights of sleep) he will be a force, but recent form suggests it will be difficult to do so.

Sam Burns and Harris English each have one Ryder Cup appearance to their names, collecting a single point from three matches on debut. Both are steady, reliable performers, but neither is likely to feature in more than their usual three sessions. Their value lies less in star power and more in their ability to complement stronger teammates — solid, dependable pieces rather than standout match-winners.

If you’d suggested a year ago that Collin Morikawa might be a questionable Ryder Cup captain’s pick, most would have laughed. But after an underwhelming 2025, the question feels justified.

He opened the year with a pair of top five finishes, but never truly threatened to win through the summer. The drop-off is difficult to explain, but the end result is clear: Morikawa has gone from being a dependable pillar of Keegan Bradley’s side to a player his captain may need to plan around.

It’s not the situation you’d expect for a two-time major champion — and one that underscores just how much form can shift in a Ryder Cup year.

A supporting cast always needs a couple of people you can count on to perform when the lights are bright. For this team, they are Patrick Cantlay and Justin Thomas. Both players boast winning records (5-2-1 and 7-4-2 respectively) at the Ryder Cup, and will be key contributors on and off the course. Cantlay in particular has emerged as a matchplay specialist — he is a controversial character in the game due to his slow play, but seems to get under the skin of his opponents in matchplay. These two players would make an intriguing pair, so don’t be surprised to see them go out together.

The Rookies

While rookies don’t typically write many headlines at the Ryder Cup, this year’s first-timers on the U.S. team could make a splash. All four players have won in 2025, three of them (sorry, Russell Henley) project as great course fits, and all have displayed incredible resolve under pressure at the top of the game recently.

Cameron Young grew up playing golf just North of New York City at Sleepy Hollow Golf Club, where his father was the club pro. Young tied the Bethpage Black course record in 2017, becoming the first amateur to win the New York State Open. After many near misses, he became a first-time winner on the PGA Tour in August with a six-stroke victory in the 2025 Wyndham Championship. I would be surprised if he doesn’t win at least one match, and he could easily be the key difference for Team U.S.A.

Russell Henley has experience in team golf at the President’s Cup, and brings two of key traits to this team: accuracy and consistency. While Henley is toward the bottom of the driving distance rankings, he is a top 10 player on tour for driving accuracy, and has finished inside the top 20 at his last 9 events. That is very valuable in a team setting.

Another player with the chance of being a breakout wildcard is Ben Griffin. He briefly gave up the game just four years ago, and has forced his way onto this team with a remarkable 2025. He was also part of the winning pair at the Zurich Classic earlier this year, the only team event on the PGA Tour. I don’t see Griffin getting more than three starts, but you can be sure he will not be an easy out for any European grouping.

Just when it seems this U.S. team might lack a touch of star power in the final spot, the 2025 U.S. Open champion steps forward. Make no mistake: J.J. Spaun is no flash in the pan. He’s an elite ball-striker with one of the most complete skill sets on the team —perhaps second only to Scottie Scheffler. In match play, where consistency and grit shine brightest, he’ll be an incredibly tough opponent. Spaun is not just filling a roster spot; he’s one to watch.

Player Records:

Justin Thomas: 3 appearances, 7-4-2 (wins, losses, ties)

Scottie Scheffler: 2 appearances, 2-2-3

Bryson DeChambeau: 2 appearances, 2-3-1

Patrick Cantlay: 2 appearances, 5-2-1

Xander Schauffele: 2 appearances, 4-4-0

Collin Morikawa: 2 appearances, 4-3-1

Harris English: 1 appearance, 1-2-0

Sam Burns: 1 appearance, 1-2-0

Russell Henley: First appearance

J.J. Spaun: First appearance

Ben Griffin: First appearance

Cameron Young: First appearance

Other Results on Tour

• 🇸🇪 Alex Noren won the BMW Championship on the DP World Tour in a playoff against Frenchman Adrien Saddier

  • This was Noren’s second victory in three weeks after a win at the British Masters

  • The Swede will be a Vice Captain for Luke Donald at Bethpage Black

  • 11 of the 12 European Ryder Cup players participated, with Nicolai Højgaard the only one to miss the cut

  • Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Viktor Hovland finished in T5, Jon Rahm was T13 and McIlroy posted a final round 65 to finish in the top 20

• 🧑‍✈️ The European team departed for a scouting trip to New York after the conclusion of the BMW Championship

  • They will spend the next few days at Bethpage Black preparing for the event, so there may be some intel on social media about which players are paired up together

  • The American team are also expected to be at the course at some point this week

• 🍷 Scottie Scheffler won the Procore Championship in Napa Valley on the PGA Tour, defeating Ben Griffin by one stroke after Griffin 3-putted the final hole

  • 10 of the 12 U.S. Ryder Cup team participated in the event; a detour from their prep strategy for the last Ryder Cup where the players did not play competitively for five weeks

Coming up on tour this week:

• 🇫🇷 The DP World Tour moves across the English Channel for the French Open

• 🏆️ Final prep for the Ryder Cup!! This time next week players will begin arriving on site for the event

If you have any feedback for the newsletter or would like to get in touch, I would love to hear from you! Email [email protected] or message us on Twitter/X at @BlueHorizonGolf. Thank you for reading!