2 years after Ryder Cup loss, U.S. makes big change in preparation

Two years after the American Ryder Cup team was dominated by Europe in Rome, the U.S. squad has changed up its preparation as the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage nears.

The field for next week’s Procore Championship at Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif., was confirmed on Friday, and 10 of the 12 players on the U.S. Ryder Cup team are teeing it up. The only two not in the field are Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau, the latter a LIV Golf member who isn’t allowed to enter the field. (Schauffele and DeChambeau, however, still could be with the team in some capacity next week despite not playing.)

Two years ago, in the lead-up to Europe’s 16.5-11.5 win over the U.S., nine of the Americans’ 12 Ryder Cup players took five weeks off from tournament golf. This is partly an issue with the PGA Tour schedule and lack of events between the Tour Championship and the Ryder Cup, but only two of the U.S. players (Justin Thomas and Max Homa) competed in this same tournament in 2023, which was then called the Fortinet Championship. Both finished top 10 in Napa and combined for five points in Rome.

The U.S. team’s lack of competitive starts was a major discussion topic after its road loss, especially since all 12 European Ryder Cup members played in the BMW PGA Championship two weeks before the Ryder Cup and had seven finish in the top 10. (Nearly the entire European team will also play next week’s BMW PGA.)

While nine of the 12 members on the 2023 U.S. team did make a scouting trip to host course Marco Simone a few weeks before the event, the lack of competitive reps still came up after their loss. Although U.S. captain Zach Johnson said he didn’t think the lengthy break was a factor.

“There’s also something to be said about rest and recovering and getting your game in a position where you can go compete,” he said back in 2023 in his Sunday night press conference. “I mean, these guys have won a lot of golf tournaments with weeks off. I have. So I don’t think so. We had prep time here. Again, two and a half weeks ago. Reps are reps. The schedule is the schedule. You can’t control that. We try to control what we can control. I thought I had a fairly appropriate plan in place. Again, I might reflect on that and there may be some changes in there that I maybe could have done or nuanced or altered or whatever it may be.

“But I am not going to slight the preparation of these guys. Whether it was at home or here or wherever, I know they were working their tails off to retain and bring the Cup back home.”

It’s clear U.S. captain Keegan Bradley made playing in Napa a priority this year. The Napa stop, the first event of the fall schedule, has struggled to draw some of the top names in the game, as many players who advance to the Tour Championship take an extended break while other still battling for FedEx Cup priority begin an important fall slate.

Now World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is in the field (and will be the runaway betting favorite) and will be joined by Ryder Cup teammates J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Harris English, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns.

Bradley will of course be on-site, and three of his five vice captains (Gary Woodland, Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson) are also in the field.

The 2025 Ryder Cup is Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y.