With all the hoopla around the amazing Guardians finish to the season and the Browns improbable victory over Green Bay, it’s easy to forget that the Ryder Cup is this weekend! Some say this is the best thing golf has to offer. The US versus Europe! Let’s delve into the teams with the next few articles. Here we give a basic primer.

 

Who: Team USA battles Team Europe

What: The 2025 Ryder Cup, a biennial competition for golf’s best worldwide

Where: Bethpage Black Course, Farmingdale, NY

When: September 23-28, 2025

What’s at stake: One of the oldest trophies in golf, won in 2023 by Team Europe in Rome.

 

Rosters

Europe

 

Here is the roster for Team Europe, looking to defend its 2023 crown.

 

Captain:

• Luke Donald (England)

Vice-Captains:

• Thomas Bjørn (Denmark)
• José María Olazábal (Spain)
• Edoardo Molinari (Italy)
• Francesco Molinari (Italy)
• Alex Norén (Sweden)

Players:

• Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland)
• Robert MacIntyre (Scotland)
• Tommy Fleetwood (England)
• Justin Rose (England)
• Rasmus Højgaard (Denmark)
• Tyrrell Hatton (England)
• Shane Lowry (Ireland)
• Sepp Straka (Austria)
• Ludvig Åberg (Sweden)
• Viktor Hovland (Norway)
• Matt Fitzpatrick (England)
• Jon Rahm (Spain)

 

USA

Captain:

• Keegan Bradley

Vice-Captains:

• Jim Furyk
• Kevin Kisner
• Webb Simpson
• Brandt Snedeker
• Gary Woodland

Team Members:

• Sam Burns (LSU, Shreveport, LA)
• Patrick Cantlay (UCLA, Long Beach, CA)
• Bryson DeChambeau (SMU, Modesto, CA)
• Harris English (UGA, Valdosta, GA)
• Ben Griffin (UNC, Chapel Hill, NC)
• Russell Henley (UGA, Macon, GA)
• Collin Morikawa (UC-Berkeley, LA, CA)
• Xander Schauffele (Long Beach and San Diego State, San Diego, CA)
• J.J. Spaun (San Diego State, LA, CA)
• Scottie Scheffler (Texas, Ridgewood, NJ)
• Justin Thomas (Alabama, Louisville, KY)
• Cameron Young (Wake Forest, Scarborough, NY)

Short History

The Ryder Cup’s first competition saw the American team defeat Britain, 9.5 points to 2.5 points at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts. US captain Walter Hagen led his squad while Ted Ray captained the British side. Since then, there have been ups and downs for each team.

 

The Americans owned the tournament from 1935-1955, but 1985 defined Europe’s growing dominance. 1979 saw the British side open their borders to other countries like Spain, Germany, and France, to just name a few. By 1985, Tony Jacklin’s group not only defeated the Americans for the first time in 28 years but showcased the emerging Team Europe’s cast of young greats like Seve Ballesteros, Bernhard Langer, and Colin Montgomerie. In the past 19 Ryder Cups, Europe has been victorious in 13 of them.

 

From 1985 to 2012, many matches have been decided by 1 point or less! Europe holds two of the most lopsided wins, back to back in 2004 and 2006, both by nine points! 

 

Since the 2012 crushing American loss (Seve had just passed and Team Europe wore his image on their sleeves and golf bags) the margins of victory/loss has been over 6 points! The biggest margin was in 2021 when Team USA crushed Team Europe 19-9. 

 

From 2014 on, if you played for the Cup on your home soil, you won! The last tournament was in Rome, so you can pretty much count on the US holding court on Bethpage! At least we hope. 

 

NEO will keep you up on the day’s events and scores. We have so much more to share but for those of you who watch golf, cancel all your appointments this weekend. Golf, then Guardians! As God intended!

All images are from the official Ryder Cup 2025 home page.