I tried to predict the 2025 Ryder Cup teams in 2023. I’ve put my hard hat back on.
While the majority of both teams isn’t hard to predict, there are four or five players on each side who are interchangeable. That’s where the fun is to be had.
Europe will carry confidence from Marco Simone to the United States, hoping to achieve something Rory McIlroy described as one of the biggest accomplishments in golf – winning an away Ryder Cup.
The fans in New York will look to make sure the USA take back the trophy, but which players will be on each 12-man team? I took a stab at predicting the line-ups for the Ryder Cup 2025. I’ve kept my selections and provided an update underneath each of their names, detailing whether it’s a stinker, a good call or yet to be decided.
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2025 Ryder Cup team predictions
Europe
Captain Prediction: Luke Donald
Reality: Luke Donald
I always said to give Luke another go. I honestly don’t see why that would have ever not been the case. How long is the queue of worthy candidates behind him anyway?
Initial prediction: A two-time major champion and a super Ryder Cup player. There is no question the Spaniard will be at Bethpage.
Update: We had a small hiccup with his move to LIV Golf, but Rahm fulfilled his DP World Tour obligations at the end of 2024 and there is nothing to suggest his form has dwindled and he can’t win more majors. It won’t matter if he makes the top six spots on the European list or not, he will be a nailed-on captain’s pick at worst.
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Initial prediction: In the back nine of his Ryder Cup career? You’re being modest, Rory. The Northern Irishman can book his flights now.
Update: Same story. McIlroy will be at Bethpage, barring injury.
Initial prediction: By the time the end of 2025 rolls around, I expect Viktor Hovland to be a major champion and possibly a multi-major champion.
Update: Despite almost winning the PGA Championship, 2024 wasn’t Hovland’s year and since the end of the 2024 season, he hasn’t spoken glowingly about his own golf and his form matches this.
Swing changes, different approaches. I’d still be shocked if he wasn’t in the team, but his career has a very different outlook now.
Initial prediction: Tyrrell Hatton has been one of the best European players of the last five years. He can match any American’s game on his day.
Update: Like Rahm, my eyebrows raised with his move to LIV Golf. But he kept his DP World Tour membership and won the Dubai Desert Classic at the start of 2025. He will be in Bethpage either via an automatic spot or a pick.
Initial prediction: Marco Simone will be the first of many, many Ryder Cups for Ludvig Aberg. We are at the start of something special.
Update: Super player with more to come in 2025, showing that by winning the Genesis Invitational at Torrey Pines. This wasn’t a tough selection.
Initial prediction: The former US Open champion has a poor Ryder Cup record, but he is in a new realm of his career now, and he could be made for Bethpage.
Update: The ever-consistent Fitzpatrick is still one of the world’s top players, a major champion and a PGA Tour winner. He isn’t the force he was when winning the US Open in 2022 and the RBC Heritage in 2023, but he’ll be in New York.
Initial prediction: Much like the previous seven names, Tommy Fleetwood is set to be a crucial part of Europe’s attempts at a first away win since 2012.
Update: Tommy Fleetwood is set to make his fourth straight appearance for Team Europe. He is excellent at match play and still consistently hovering around the top 10 in the world rankings.
Initial prediction: His passion and drive for the Ryder Cup will surely take Shane Lowry over the line for qualification. If he doesn’t get an automatic spot, the captain will find it hard not to select him.
Update: Lowry is still solid. You couldn’t picture a Team Europe without his spirit and quality.
Initial prediction: A two-time PGA Tour winner who is going from strength to strength. Sepp Straka is becoming a great player and could be an asset for Europe in years to come.
Update: Straka is interesting. He made the 2024 Tour Championship and is still one of the best players on the PGA Tour. Some might not see him as a cemented pick, but he is now a three-time PGA Tour winner having won the 2025 Amex.
Initial prediction: Donald chose Nicolai Hojgaard as a glimpse into the future of Team Europe and I suspect the young Dane could develop into a more solid and effective Ryder Cup player in 2025.
Update: He was chosen in favour of Adrian Meronk in 2023, so Donald has invested heavily in the young Dane. I’d say he should still be fine.
Adrien Dumont De Chassart
Initial prediction: A player some of you mightn’t be familiar with, but he’s shown a great trajectory at college and on the Korn Ferry Tour. He will be on the cusp of Team Europe I’m sure of it.
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Update: We need a miracle here. He is toiling on the DP World Tour and would hardly be in Donald’s thoughts now.
Vincent Norrman
Initial prediction: Vincent Norrman is a recent winner on the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour and could add another Scandinavian bow to Team Europe in 2025.
Update: Similar to ADDC, we need a huge and improbable turnaround from Vincent Normann if he is to earn a Ryder Cup debut.
2025 Ryder Cup team predictions: Fringe players to watch…
Thomas Detry
Aaron Rai
Rasmus Hojgaard
USA
Captain Prediction: Stewart Cink
Reality: Keegan Bradley
Stewart Cink was a vice-captain for the first time in Rome and, as an Open champion and a five-time Ryder Cup participant, he seemed a logical choice. But Team USA have gone with a younger, more active model in Bradley who could yet be a playing captain.
Initial prediction: The World No.1 will definitely be on Team USA at Bethpage, probably as a multi-major winner by then too.
Update: No comment needed. Only injury (or jail) could stop Scheffler from being at Bethpage.
Initial prediction: Patrick Cantlay is one of the USA’s most consistent performers on the PGA Tour. One of a number of players who are almost guaranteed a spot.
Update: He thrives in team-match play and is incredibly consistent. Cantlay is somewhat of a new Captain America.
Initial prediction: He was my pick to be America’s MVP in Rome. Max Homa has turned into an outstanding player who just needs some major form to solidify his place as one of the world’s best.
Update: Although he wasn’t a dead cert for the 2024 Presidents Cup team, Homa has proven to be a popular and fruitful team player. Having said that, his form in 2025 is extremely concerning. He started 2025 with two missed cuts and a tied-for-53rd finish at Pebble Beach where there was no cut.
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Initial prediction: Much like Cantlay, Xander Schauffele has become part of the furniture on PGA Tour leaderboards and certainly in the Team USA dressing room.
Update: Like Scheffler, he will be at Bethpage despite a tricky start to 2025 that was blighted with injury and inactivity.
Initial prediction: I’d be surprised if Justin Thomas’ form continued to slump in the next two years. He had a Ryder Cup to forget in 2023, but he certainly showed much more courage than some of his teammates in Rome.
Update: Incredibly, Thomas was chosen for the 2023 Ryder Cup side despite missing out on the FedEx Cup Playoffs, yet missed out on the 2024 Presidents Cup team when making the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He IS Captain America and barring another bad year, he’ll at least get a pick, surely?
Initial prediction: I honestly thought long and hard about Jordan Spieth’s place on this side. He was erratic in 2023 and his form would have to improve to be a main player in Long Island.
Update: This one could be injury-related. Spieth announced in August that he had wrist surgery. After coming tied for fourth in Phoenix at the start of 2025, he missed the cut at Torrey Pines and complained of more wrist issues. This pick is not a guarantee at all.
Initial prediction: He didn’t play like the two-time major champion he is in Italy, but Collin Morikawa is an incredible golfer and I’d be stunned if he wasn’t part of this squad.
Update: Morikawa had a fantastic 2024 and probably deserved to win a major. Keeping that up, he should make his third straight appearance for Team USA.
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Initial prediction: Sam Burns didn’t have a Ryder Cup debut to remember, but his PGA Tour career is ascending in a great direction and he clearly has a passion for match play.
Update: Sam Burns played in the 2024 Presidents Cup, so he is getting a taste for Team USA and team match play. He is no lock at all, but he is proving a popular pick amongst the American fraternity.
Initial prediction: Although his world ranking points routes are restricted, I can definitely see Brooks Koepka winning another major soon and getting himself in this team.
Update: As a LIV Golfer, his performances in the majors will be crucial, like they were when he played in the 2023 Ryder Cup after winning the PGA Championship. A solid year with LIV could get him a pick though and a major win would seal his place. I still fancy Koepka’s chances of a pick if he can’t get in automatically.
Will Zalatoris
Initial prediction: It seems incredible to me that Will Zalatoris has never played in a Ryder Cup and won’t until 2025. I’d be stunned if he wasn’t at Bethpage if he was fit and healthy.
Update: He was off for nine months last year and missed seven cuts in 2024. I’ll need a huge pick-up in form for this pick to become a reality.
Cameron Young
Initial prediction: Cameron Young is on the cusp of his first PGA Tour win and with strong showings in majors too, I expect him to make his Ryder Cup debut sooner rather than later.
Update: Although Young still made six top-10s and came second again in 2024, his season was rather low key and he wasn’t chosen to play in the 2024 Presidents Cup.
50/50 heading in 2025 for me.
Initial prediction: This would be fun. After finally earning his first PGA Tour win at the Fortinet Championship, the floodgates could open for Sahith Theegala and I would love to see him play at the Ryder Cup.
Update: Theegala played at the 2024 Presidents Cup and he came third at the Tour Championship. But he hasn’t kicked on in 2025. At this stage, he might need a captain’s pick.
Fringe players to watch…
Adam Schenk
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Who do you think will play for Team Europe and Team USA at the Ryder Cup Bethpage 2025? What do you make of these 2025 Ryder Cup team predictions? Who would you add to these 2025 Ryder Cup team predictions? Tell us on X!
