The wait has finally ended.
Friday marks the 45th Ryder Cup Tea at the Black Course at Bethpage Black State Park in Farmingdale, New York.
The US tries to hold serves again in the soil at home. The host team has won each of the last five matches. The visiting team captured the Ryder Cup in 2012 in Europe’s memorable 14½-13½ victory at Illinois’ Medina Country Club.
The Europeans have won eight of their last 11 events in 2023, including 16½-11½ victory at the Marco Simone Golf Club and Country Club on the outskirts of Rome.
The US routed 19-9 19-9 in Whistle Strait in Haven, Wisconsin in 2021.
This week, it’s not possible to make Europeans easier in front of thousands of wild fans on Long Island.
Americans like to win again on a roster that includes seven of the top 10 golfers in the official world golf rankings, including the world’s number one Scotty Schaeffler.
“History would say it’s very difficult,” Rory McIlroy said. “There is a reason each Ryder Cup has (does) to the home team over the past decade, and bringing the Ryder Cup back to these shores is clearly great.
“I keep saying this. We have a great opportunity to do things that a lot of the teams in the Ryder Cup say they’ve done.”
There will be four foursome (alternate shot) matches and four four balls (better ball) matches on Friday and Saturday, followed by 12 singles matches on Sunday.
Europe needs 14 points to hold the rider cup. The US needs 14½ to get it back.
Let’s take a look at golfers competing this weekend.
1. Scotty Schaeffler, USA
World rankings: 1
Ryder Cup appearances: 3
Career Record: 2-2-3
The world’s best golfer tries to erase the memory of his 0-2-2 performance in Rome two years ago. Schaeffler was in tears after he and Brooks Koepka were at the wrong end of a loss of nine and seven on 11 holes in Foursome, the shortest 18-hole match in Ryder Cup history. For the Americans to have a chance to win this week, Scotty will need to become Scotty in three days. Good news: Schaeffler is still red hot, winning his sixth tour of the season at the Procol Championship in Napa, California two weeks ago.
2. Rory McIlroy of Europe
World rankings:2
Ryder Cup appearances: 8
Career Record: 16-13-4
McIlroy, 36, is an uncontroversial emotional leader among Europeans. He went 4-1-0 in Rome. His four points were most common by golfers on either side. McIlroy was also at the heart of the post-match conflict with American Caddy Joe Lacava. After becoming the sixth male golfer to complete his career Grand Slam with the Masters, McIlroy suffered a bit of a hangover this season. He finally won again at the Irish Open on September 7th.
World rankings: 7
Ryder Cup appearances: 4
Career Record: 7-3-2
The English golfers put together their best seasons on the PGA Tour and finally paid off with their first victory in American soil at the Tour Championship. Fleetwood has become one of the world’s most popular golfers, but that may not be the case with Beth Page Black. He went 3-1-0 in Rome and was 4-0-0 in Foursome in his previous three Ryder Cup appearances.
World rankings: 73
Ryder Cup appearances: 4
Career Record: 6-3-3
Don’t be fooled by world rankings. The Spaniard remains one of the best golfers on the planet, even if his world rankings plummeted while he was playing in the LIV golf league. He won the individual points championships for that league season for the second year in a row, and performed better in the majors (three top-15 finishes) this past season. The two-time major champions were the power of the Ryder Cup, such as Spanish golfers Seve Ballesteros and José María Olazábal.
World rankings: twenty one
Ryder Cup appearances: 3
Career Record: 2-3-1
figuring out how to use Dechambeau’s incredible length from the tee will be one of the interesting stories for the American team this week. The two-time US open winner left the Ryder Cup team in 2023. He went 0-3-0 as a Paris rookie in 2018 and rebounded three years later to score 2½ points at the Moore Histring Strait. The Liv Golf League captain appears to be all-in after qualifying for the team in just eight counting events. The big hitter should have a New York crowd behind him.
World rankings: twenty two
Ryder Cup appearances: 3
Career Record: 5-2-1
Cantray was at the heart of the “Hatgate” controversy two years ago, but reportedly refused to wear a team hat in protest of golfers not being compensated for participating in the Ryder Cup (American golfers have won $200,000 and $300,000 for charities this year). Cantrey denied the report, but it didn’t stop European fans from waving their hats at him with Marco Simone. For at least a short time, Cantray silenced them when he and Wyndham Clark gave McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick one victory on Saturday afternoon, making a 43-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole.
World rankings: 3
Ryder Cup appearances: rookie
Henry may be a 36-year-old Ryder Cup rookie, but he has been one of the best golfers in the world for the past few seasons. He collected his fifth PGA Tour victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on March 9th. Also, four of the previous eight majors finished in the top 10. Henry went 3-1-0 in his first Presidential Cup appearance in 2024, working with Schaeffler to win two matches. Henry strikes the fairway and the greens and keeps them simple.
World rankings: 16
Ryder Cup appearances: 2
Career Record: 2-2-0
It was a decent season for the 25-year-old from Sweden, who won his second PGA Tour victory at Genesis Invitational in February. He didn’t finish better than having his seventh solo in the Masters the rest of the way, but he played well in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He was ranked 91st in strokes: approach (-.038), putting in 86th (-.051). Oberg was 2-2-0 as a Roma Ryder Cup rookie.
World rankings: 5
Ryder Cup appearances: 4
Career Record: 7-4-2
Few American golfers care about the Ryder Cup than Thomas, who has returned to the team after playing much better golf in the last two seasons. JT is one of the best matchplay performers for the United States, as evidenced by his previous 3-0-0 record in singles in the three Ryder Cups. He has already called this week’s match “the biggest golf event of all time.”
World rankings: twenty five
Ryder Cup appearances: 4
Career Record: 5-4-2
Hatton was one of the European stars in Rome, earning 3½ points on a 3-0-1 record. The English golfer paired with Rahm to score their first points in a foursome match over Schaeffler and Sam Burns, with the duo defeating Cantrey and Zander Shaufele on Saturday in Foursome. Hutton also defeated Brian Herman in Sunday’s single. Hatton finished fourth at the US Open and fifth at the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour.
World rankings: 20
Ryder Cup appearances: rookie
After finishing seventh runner-up on the tour, Young ultimately won his first victory at the Wyndham Championship on August 3rd. His length from the tee (313.2 yards) must be a weapon in Bethpage Black. He has become one of the best putters on the tour again this year. He was fifth in the stroke: Putting (.642). Young is the son of an expert at the PGA club in Scarborough, New York, and won the New York Open in 2017 with Beth Page Black.
12. Xander Schauffele, USA
World rankings: 4
Ryder Cup appearances: 3
Career Record: 4-4-0
A painful rib injury derailed Schaufele’s 2025 season after he won the first two major championships of his career the previous year. Whether Schauffele can regain his shape with Bethpage Black is one of the biggest issues surrounding Team USA. Schaufele went 3-1-0 as a rookie in the Moore Histling Strait in 2018, then 1-3-0 in Rome. He didn’t compete in the Procol Championship. There, 10 of the 12 US Ryder Cup players were active. He was at home with his wife Maya and his newborn son, Victor.
World rankings: 12
Ryder Cup appearances: 3
Career Record: 3-4-3
Hovland’s first two Ryder Cup experience couldn’t be any more different. The Norwegian golfer appeared as a rookie in each of the five sessions and was unable to win the match, making it 0-3-2. However, in Rome two years later, Hovland scored 3½ points, making it 3-1-1. He appears to be never satisfied with his swing, but his results have been good recently, finishing 12th in the Tour Championship and fifth in the BMW PGA Championship.
World rankings: 9
Ryder Cup appearances: 2
Career Record: 2-0-1
The 29-year-old from Scotland was considered a question mark for a Roman European, but he is more than answering Bell by scoring 2½ points. MacIntyre has since become one of the best golfers in the world in two seasons. He won the 2024 PGA Tour twice and finished in the top 10 in three of his past seven majors. Macintyre and Justin Rose were solid four-ball partners for Marco Simone.
World rankings: 8
Ryder Cup appearances: 3
Career Record: 4-3-1
Another mystery to the Americans, Morikawa is the winner of two major championships, but his form has been off for a while. After wasting a slow lead and losing to Henry in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and 10th in the Player Championship the following week, Molkawa had only one more top ten remaining in the season. He is still one of the best ball strikers in the world, and combining him with a good putter may help him turn things around.
World rankings: 10
Ryder Cup appearances: 2
Career Record: 1-2-0
English scored points as a Ryder Cup rookie in the Mouth Histto Strait and underwent surgery in February 2022 to repair a torn lip on his right hip. He’s off one of his best seasons on tour – he won Farmers Insurance in January and worked well in the majors. English was tied to 12th place in Masters and was runner-up in both the PGA Championship and the Open. English might be a surprise to Americans if his putter is hot this week.
World rankings: 6
Ryder Cup appearances: rookie
The 35-year-old rookie sunk a 64-foot walk-off putt on the 72nd hole at the Oakmont Country Club in June, earning his first major at the US Open in an epic way. He also fell into the three-hole playoffs to McIlroy in the Player Championship. Spaun is one of the best iron players on the tour, and he’s enough from the tee to do some damage in the first Ryder Cup.
18. Matt Fitzpatrick, Europe
World rankings: 29
Ryder Cup appearances: 4
Career Record: 1-7-0
The 2022 US Open Champion only managed to win one point in three previous appearances in the Ryder Cup. Fitzpatrick’s form has been better since he hired swing coach Mark Blackburn. He was tied to fourth place at the Open, sixth in the British Masters on the DP World Tour, fifth in the European Masters and fifth in the BMW PGA Championship.
World rankings: 11
Ryder Cup appearances: rookie
The biggest surprise of the US team, Griffin left golf for most of 2021 and worked as a mortgage executive. He returned to the course and ultimately won a PGA Tour card. He won two wins this season and was paired with Andrew Novak to capture the Zurich Classics of the New Orleans team event and won the Charles Schwab Challenge next month. He finished 8th in the PGA Championship and 10th in the US Open.
20. Sam Burns, USA
World rankings: twenty three
Ryder Cup appearances: 2
Career Record: 1-2-0
Burns’ slow charging in the FedEx Cup playoffs secured his spot for the US team. He finished fourth in the BMW Championship and seventh in the Tour Championship. Burns led the PGA Tour with strokes: Putting (.983). He scored one point as a rookie in Rome.
World rankings: twenty four
Ryder Cup appearances: 3
Career Record: 2-3-1
Raleigh was one of the emotional leaders of the European team, who was in fierce conflict with Lachiba on the 18th Green on Rome Saturday. He also pulled McIlroy away as spats continued in the parking lot. This is Rory’s third consecutive appearance on the captain’s pick. Only Jesper Parnevik had that much.
World rankings: 15
Ryder Cup appearances: 2
Career Record: 1-2-0
The age of 32 was born in Austria and grew up in Valdosta, Georgia. He has won the American Express and Trust Championship twice on the tour this season. He missed the cut with three of the four majors and his game was not sharp during the FedEx Cup playoffs. Straka doesn’t hit it far from the tee, but rarely misses the fairway or the green.
twenty three. Justin Rose, Europe
World rankings: 14
Ryder Cup appearances: 7
Career Record: 14-9-3
Rose, 45, admits he is in the later stages of his career, but he still plays epic golf. He won the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs in a playoff victory against Spoon at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Rose also lost in the Masters playoffs to McIlroy. The English golfer was part of four winning Ryder Cup teams, including the miracle with the 2012 Medina team.
World rankings: 58
Ryder Cup appearances: rookie
The 24-year-old from Denmark is the only new golfer on the European team. His twin brother, Nikolai, was a Roman competitor two years ago. Team Europe captain Luke Donald will have some familiarity with Rasmus to invite Marco Simone to see his brother play and be around the team. He has won the DP World Tour five times.