The best-ever European and US Ryder Cup teams don’t include Rory McIlroy, Tiger, Phil, or Sir Nick – and here is why

I hate it when people argue their best-ever Premier League XIs.

It’s a debate that descends into a black hole because no side can be proven right. It’s a ‘What you like’ debate. 50 different combinations are right and wrong, yet it crops up too often.

Using the statistics of Match Play World, I carefully transferred this tiresome slanging match into the Ryder Cup.

But I used cold, hard facts. There’s no room for personal preference when you have decimal places. Which players earned the most points in proportion to the amount of matches they played? Let’s eradicate character and flair and look at the data.

Enjoy the cavalier excitement of Phil Mickelson? Nope, there are plenty who racked better records than Lefty. Was Sir Nick Faldo your favourite player? Maybe, but many Europeans were superior in the event. Many.

Dating back to 1979 when the European team was formed, I’ve discovered the best 12 players from Team Europe and Team USA, based on those who’ve played at least 10 matches. I’ve ordered them in points per match earned.

These are the ones who thrived in the cauldron of match play the most, across foursomes, fourballs and singles. The two dozen below are statistically the best players of the modern Ryder Cup era.

Best European Ryder Cup players

Courtesy of MatchPlayWorld.com

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“You’ve got to look at people like Sergio Garcia. In fourballs and foursomes alone, from 35 games, he has won just under 69% of points – which really is quite astounding,” Martin Hopley of Match Play World said. “He’s won more than two-thirds of his games with different partners.

“Maybe his singles record isn’t as good as that, but that’s probably because he played four times before the singles more than most. There are some people like that where it was clear, no matter who you put them with, they were going to do quite well.

“Going back, Paul Way had 73% from nine matches (above stats are based on 10 matches played minimum), which just pips Luke Donald, who was 70% from 15 matches. I would say it’s one of those two who is our best player of all time. We might have to give it to Donald just because he’s played more games,” he added.

Paul Way is deserving of an honourable mention. The three-time European Tour winner earned 6.5 points in nine matches.

As we’ve learned in these statistical columns, Luke Donald has been an incredible servant of Team Europe. He has played the second-fewest matches of the top 12 Europeans, meaning he has a smaller body of work than most of his teammates, but he rarely ever lost a match.

Tommy Fleetwood has played the joint-fewest matches in these data tables across both teams since 1979, but there is nothing to suggest the Southport man can’t keep this going. He has earned six points across two home Ryder Cups, which is the basis of his impressive record.

European fans won’t be shocked by the presence of the Spanish quadrant – Jose Maria Olazabal, Seve Ballesteros, Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia – the latter being the record points-scorer in the event’s history with 28.5. But what fans might be shocked at is that there are two Northern Irishmen in the top 12 European players, but neither with the name ‘Rory McIlroy’.

Among the cult names of Seve, Monty and Poulter, Graeme McDowell is somewhat forgotten. The former US Open champion played in four consecutive Ryder Cups between 2008 and 2014, earning nine points from 15 matches and having the crowning moment in Wales in 2010 by securing Europe the points they needed to win.

Darren Clarke won just short of 60% of the points available to him across 20 matches. He played five Ryder Cups on the spin from 1997 with arguably his most famous moment coming in 2006. Tears flowed after Clarke beat Zach Johnson in the Sunday singles as he lost his wife Heather to cancer just six weeks earlier.

Notable players that miss out on the top 12 Europeans since 1979 would be Bernhard Langer (0.571), McIlroy (0.551), Ian Woosnam (0.532), Nick Faldo (0.512), Lee Westwood (0.511), Padraig Harrington (0.42), and Sam Torrance (0.357).

Best Ryder Cup players ever: Team USA

ALSO: Who are the best singles players in Ryder Cup history?

There is a healthy mix of past legends and current stars in the top 12 Americans based on points per match since 1979. Larry Nelson, a three-time major champion and Hall-of-Famer, was a superb competitor for the USA across three Ryder Cups.

Nelson won his first nine Ryder Cup matches across 1979 and 1981, but only scored half a point in 1987. Tom Watson had a wonderful Ryder Cup record and next comes Patrick Reed who is the highest-ranked current player for Team USA.

Reed burst on the scene in 2014 at the Gleneagles Ryder Cup, immediately earning the Captain America tag and forging a partnership with Jordan Spieth. The pair were split at the 2016 matches at Hazeltine as the duo of Spieth and Justin Thomas was preferred by captain Davis Love III.

It is for the formation of this pairing that Thomas can thank, and European fans can rue, as the two-time PGA Champion has become a thorn in their side on many occasions, evident by his eight points from 13 abovementioned matches. He has won all three singles matches that he has played, one coming on home soil and one against McIlroy in the top match in 2018.

He has been America’s best Ryder Cupper in the last 10 years by far, not least because he shows passion and drive that is synonymous with the European dressing room, but not so much the American one. Thomas and Spieth have earned 4.5 points in nine pairs matches at the Ryder Cup.

Notable players that miss out on the top 12 Americans since 1979 would be Brooks Koepka (0.533), Speith (0.477), Mickelson (0.457), Woods (0.392), Jim Furyk (0.353), and Curtis Strange (0.35).

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What do you make of these lists of the best Ryder Cup players ever? Tell us on X!

Match Play World originated from the desire to form a better solution to a common problem with match play events in golf. The Match Play Matrix format means every player plays every round, but the winner is still the last player undefeated.

While creating this unique format, Match Play World developed the Match Play World Golf Rankings for players dating back to 1927 when the first Ryder Cup was held. From the Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Solheim Cup and WGC Match Play to the old EurAsia Cup and the new LIV Golf Team Championship, every match play event is covered. View the Match Play World Golf Rankings here.