We’ve finally made it, folks. It’s Ryder Cup Week.
Twenty-four of the best players in the world are assembled at Bethpage Black, and someone’s career is going to change. A handful of players will play all five matches. Even more are likely to just play three times.
How about just two matches? The ultimate sign of … we don’t really need you right now. We’ll wait to see about that, but in the meantime we’ve compiled the truest, most accurate, unfailing power ranking of all 24 players in the event. Enjoy!
Five months ago, we would have expected Straka to play at least four matches, but he’s had a lot going on, adding a newborn to his family. All in, Straka has played just two tournaments since The Open, and the most recent one was quite bad. He’s a prime candidate to play just two matches, but maybe Luke Donald will surprise us.
Rose punched his ticket to this team in August, during a three-week string of form. And remember what he did at Augusta in April? Two major problems: Augusta National is not Bethpage Black, and his golf between those two peaks was not good. At 45 years old, he’s limited in what he can offer physically. Mentally, though, he’s a bastion of experience, which means he is liable to grind out a match on the 18th hole and beat his chest into Ryder Cup lore.
One of the best cart-drivers at the 2023 Cup, Hojgaard needs to be an elite golf ball driver this week, which he decidedly was not in the team tuneup at Wentworth two weeks ago. His game is so similar to his brother Nico’s that it feels like Team Europe has the literal same squad. Which would lead you to expect Ras plays a couple four-ball matches, trying to make as many birdies as possible on his own ball.
It may feel wrong to rank Morikawa this low, but the last few months have not been good for him. He’s had a bunch of different people carrying his clubs, the most recent being Mark Urbanek, who looped for Tony Finau at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, and the results have been all over the place. In the end, he’s still one of the best irons players on the planet and could have a reclamation of sorts alongside Sam Burns, the best putter in the world.
Lowry has been an emotional leader for Team Europe at both of the last two Cups, but his play hasn’t exactly been the most impressive. Both in those Cups and in the summer of 2025. So what do you do with him? Probably send him out in foursomes with a good putter and hope the irons are hot.
English earned his way into the Ryder Cup by playing well at the exact right time, earning a bunch of points with second-place finishes in two majors this year. Does his game wow you? No. Will he play four matches at Bethpage? Probably not. But at least he isn’t a rookie.
Thomas is only listed this low because of how mediocre he’s been lately. He finished middle of the pack in Napa and has been turning in one bad round for every two good ones in recent weeks. Up-and-down play can get masked by the format of a team event, but I just get the sense that he is more team leader than team baller, if you will. And that’s ok!
The undisputed best putter in the world … has actually fared better in team competition than most people think. He was the third-best American, Strokes Gained-wise, at the 2023 Cup, and he’s been very good since the start of August. I’m mostly curious about which ball-striking wizard he gets paired with.
Spaun practiced with Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley during the U.S. team training camp in Napa, which makes you think he could play alongside both of them in New York. His game lends itself to be paired with a great putter, though. So a Sam Burns or Ben Griffin type might be the better option. Either way, he’s played the best golf of his life this year, and the all-around nature of his game needs to be an asset for Keegan Bradley. If it isn’t a win may not be in the cards for the U.S.
Two years ago, MacIntyre was undoubtedly the biggest concern entering the Ryder Cup. Plenty of Europeans weren’t keen on him even being on the team. But then he went undefeated in three matches, turned into one of the best players in the world and is now a massive player for Europe. I’m not sure who Donald will pair him with, particularly in any foursomes match, but if he’s playing alternate shot — which he did none of in Italy — that’s your biggest sign that Bob is in good form.
He’s never been one of the four best players on a Ryder Cup team, but Hatton has always been a token of depth that the Europeans rely upon immensely. People forget that he not only played well in Rome, but also solidly in Wisconsin, and still grabbed a point in the European victory in France. He’s the lucky one who most likely gets to play alongside Jon Rahm.
The Ryder Cup rookie has been playing some nuclear golf lately. His finishes in August and September: Win, solo 5th, 11th, T4, T9. If he can keep up the ball-striking, he could be a lot like Griffin and find himself playing four matches as a rookie.
Cantlay has been a Ryder Cup killer, no matter how you look at it. He paired great with Xander Schauffele at Whistling Straits and carried Wyndham Clark during a match win in Rome. His late-season form was dialing in … so will Patty Ice return at Bethpage? I’m here for zero-smiles pairing with Cameron Young.
Hovland may have been the best golfer on the planet ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup. He’s not anymore, but his floor is still incredibly high. His putter has been much hotter throughout the summer, which bodes well for the birdie chase that these matches end up becoming.
Six months ago, it seemed Fitzpatrick might not have a spot on this European roster. But something changed in the spring and he’s been incredible since, racking up seven top 10s in his last nine starts. There’s been no wins on the board, but he’s played some of the most consistent golf and can pair well with anyone. Maybe he gets to play with Rory McIlroy again.
Griffin is the highest ranked rookie on the list, but he deserves it. He’s playing the best golf of his life — and even if he’s not a bomber off the tee, he does everything else at an elite-elite level. If he gets paired with an in-form teammate, he could pop off a 3- or 3.5-point performance. The main question is: how shaky will his knees get on that 1st tee?
Schauffele would be ranked higher if he would have competed at all lately, but he hasn’t played in a month — taking time away to be with his wife as they welcomed a newborn to the family. He still hasn’t missed a cut in years, thanks to an incredibly high floor. He won’t be counted on to play five matches, and may not even play four. We’ll have to see what kind of shape his game is in.
Very, very quietly, Aberg has returned near his apex, with a great all-around game you can pair with anyone else. We’d expect him to pair with his Nordic pal Hovland again. We would not expect them to win another match 9 and 7, but are not going to be surprised if they fare well. The floor is so high.
Henley has been penciled in as a solid teammate for Scottie Scheffler, but he may be too good for that role now. He’s been one of the eight best golfers in the world for much of the last 12 months, just grinding out solid performances on any type of golf course. Bethpage won’t be a perfect fit for him, but course fit hasn’t kept him down in 2025. He just keeps on trucking.
It’s hard to know exactly what DeChambeau has been up to the last month, since the LIV Golf season ended. Well, we know he’s been giving away cars via trick shots and making appearances at the Walker Cup and even at team events in Napa — but when it comes to getting his game ready, there’s probably no bigger wild card. He could play five matches, electrify the crowd and somehow earn even more fans than he already has. He also could continue good-not-great form, get unlucky alongside people he’s never paired with before and end up playing just three matches.
Fleetwood is playing the best golf of his life, he got the monkey off his back with a victory in the Tour Championship and has as sparkling of a Ryder Cup record as anybody. He may not play five matches, but if he gets rocking with the right teammate — perhaps McIlroy — he may not sit a single session.
No one in the field has as much Ryder Cup experience as McIlroy, who has been proclaiming a European victory for a full two years now. He wobbled a bit this summer, but corrected back into place at the K Club with an Irish Open victory. McIlroy will have to be up against Scottie Scheffler in order to be an underdog in any match this week.
Having been rested for a session in Rome, I would guess Rahm politely requests a full slate of five appearances this week. He’s gone toe-to-toe with Scheffler at each of the last two Cups, and doesn’t get that opportunity nearly enough anymore. Here’s to Round 3 taking place this week.
He is the undisputed best player on earth and is on a journey to knocking McIlroy off the mantle of Best Player Since Tiger. A good first step would be having his best team event yet. If he doesn’t play five matches, something is seriously wrong.
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