The 2025 Ryder Cup is taking place at Bethpage Black, New York starting September 26. Last week, the United States announced their 12 man roster, and on Monday, the European team was announced.
European captain Luke Donald is set to return as team captain after winning in Italy in 2023. The approach seems to be rather simple, and that was to go with the best players available. Donald’s five obvious picks were 2019 British Open champion Shane Lowry of Clara, Ireland, Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg, Austria’s Sepp Straka, Norway’s Viktor Hovland and England’s Matt Fitzpatrick (the 2022 United States Open champion).
The sixth captain’s pick was an interesting selection, but probably the right selection. Donald ignored the European Points List where the next best picks were England’s Matt Wallace, Belgium’s Thomas Detry, England’s Marco Penge and England’s Aaron Rai. Donald chose Spain’s Jon Rahm, who is the best player on LIV, despite not winning an LIV event in 2025. What Rahm has going for him is the fact that before he made the controversial decision in switching leagues, he was among the best golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings, and was a two-time major champion. He won the 2021 United States Open and the 2023 Masters.
Speaking about the best players in the world, Europe will be led by Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy, the world number two and five-time major champion. The other five players chosen automatically through the European Points list were Englishmen Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton, and Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard. Rose is also a major champion as he won the 2013 United States Open.
