Ryder Cup Teams Assessed: Young Guns take on Experienced Winners

The Ryder Cup is just around the corner and with all 24 players now confirmed we are going to take a look through each of the 12-man squads. We will take you through all 12 players from each side with insight on how they made their team and how they might perform in Rome later this month.

We take a look at both teams below.

Europe’s perfect blend of youth and experience

Team Europe: Rory McIlroy, Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Bob McIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg, Nicolai Hojgaard, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka.

Team Europe often head into the Ryder Cup as underdogs and don’t necessarily boast as many big names as the USA Team, but this squad has a great mix of attributes with experience ranging from Rory McIlroy to a man who has never even played in a major in Ludvig Aberg.

Captain Luke Donald will expect McIlroy to lead from the front, and by example, as the most experienced and most successful player on the European team. It would be no surprise to see McIlroy playing at every opportunity in Rome and his Ryder Cup Record of 12 wins, 12 losses and four draws suggests he has all the experience needed to lead his side.

Viktor Hovland is the form player in the squad having won the Tour Championship in emphatic style off the back of a memorable victory at the BMW Championship, both of which came less than a month ago. Jon Rahm also started the season on red-hot form and the world number three will certainly play a big part this year, heading into the tournament as 9/2 favourite to be his team’s top points scorer.

Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose make up a three-man English contingent and three of them rank inside the top 14 golfers in the world. Justin Rose is currently ranked 34th in the world but his Ryder Cup experience is undeniable with 14 points to his name which have contributed to three wins for Team Europe in the past. Rose’s experience will be key among such a young squad and the other three have 22 top 10 finishes between them on the PGA Tour this season. Despite his fiery temper, Hatton is thought to be one of the more well-liked pros and will make a good partner for one of his European teammates, whilst Fleetwood and Fitzpatrick are both incredibly talented and boast previous Ryder Cup experience, and we make the latter our best value bet to be the top scoring English player at 12/5.

Bob McIntyre is the lowest ranked when it comes to World Golf Rankings but he qualified automatically through the European Points list and his performances at the Scottish Open and Czech Masters prove that he will be more than up to the challenge. Similarly, Sepp Straka has been in good form recently and the Austrian picked up his second PGA Tour victory at the John Deere Classic back in July.

Nicolai Hojgaard is another young player who will bring a youthful energy and no fear approach to Team Europe. The Danish star is not short of talent and has been in good form recently, consistently recording Top 20 finishes over the recent months. Ludvig Aberg was perhaps the surprise pick of the bunch as the 23-year-old only started playing on main Tours this year. His incredible victory at the European Masters was enough to earn him a spot and his determination and easy-going personality could make him a real asset to Luke Donald’s camp and that is reflected in his odds of 21/10 to be the top scoring European Rookie.

Winners only for Team USA

Team USA: Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Max Homa, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Jordan Spieth, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler.

USA Captain Zach Johnson has taken a very different approach in siding with those who have experience in majors and previous Ryder Cups, rather than giving a chance to those younger, hungrier and more in-form players.

Scottie Scheffler is the world number one and has been for a while. Arguably the best ball striker on the tour we will likely see him going head-to-head with McIlroy on multiple occasions and that is sure to be an epic battle. However, Johnson will be hoping his star man can get a handle on his putting before the tournament begins if he is to live up to his favourite status at 8/1 to be the top points scorer from both teams.

Team USA boasts three of the four Major winners from this season. Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark both qualified automatically and their performances on the PGA Tour this year have been exemplary, with US Open and Open Championship titles the highlights of their respective seasons.

Brooks Koepka is the other Major champion on the team and the LIV player is possibly the most controversial pick as the only representative from the breakaway tour. Despite being unnoticeable on the LIV Golf Tour, Koepka has not kept quiet at the Majors as he recorded a T2 finish at The Masters, followed by a dominant victory at the PGA Championship. Not the most popular player on the tour he will likely be fighting a solo battle and will need to go well in the singles if he is to be the top USA points scorer at 7/1.

Cantlay, Schauffele and Homa are second, third and fourth in terms of World Rankings for the USA team and earned their picks automatically, but none of them have a PGA Tour victory to their names this year. Despite this they have all performed consistently well with Homa in the hottest from of the three having recorded T12 or better finishes in all of his last five starts.

Having not had his best year, Collin Morikawa will be grateful for his selection and his very recent performances in combination with his previous winning experience may have swayed Johnson towards his selection; not to mention his positive personality making him one of the key morale boosters on Team USA.

Jordan Spieth is a shoo-in for the Ryder Cup team with his record in the tournament alone enough to secure him a spot in the team. Spieth has seven wins to show for his three appearances, not to mention he has won five out of his six four-balls which will be crucial in a USA team which seems to be geared more towards singles types.

The selection of Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas was the main headline around Team USA. Rickie Fowler is somewhat living off past successes with his selection but he has at least had a return to form this year, even picking up a PGA Tour victory earlier this year in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Justin Thomas was the most controversial selection given that JT failed to even make the top 70 on the FedEx Cup rankings. He has a great record at the Ryder Cup but has not been himself for a couple of years and has it all to do if he is to the prove those who doubted his selection wrong.

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