2025 Ryder Cup teams: Projecting United States, Europe sides at midway point of major championship season

The PGA of America’s major championship is officially in the books as Scottie Scheffler reigned supreme at Quail Hollow Club in the 107th playing of the PGA Championship. While two of the four major championships of the season has come and gone, the PGA of America’s other notable event still looms large this September.

The 2025 Ryder Cup has been labeled as appointment viewing since the announcement that the biennial event would be held at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. Built up to be possibly the biggest Ryder Cup ever in terms of stakes, infrastructure and rowdiness, this year’s duel between the United States and Europe is expected to be a highly contested bout given the way both sides have started this year’s campaign.

Currently in possession of the Ryder Cup thanks to their dominating victory in Rome a couple of falls ago, the Europeans will look to retain the cup on United States soil for the first time since the 2012 “Miracle at Medinah” when they overcame a 10-6 Sunday singles deficit to shock the Americans.

Early season returns have been great for returning captain Luke Donald and his squad. Their leader, Rory McIlroy, has won three times on the PGA Tour, including the Masters and The Players Championship, while Sepp Straka has added a couple trophies to his mantle as well. Thomas Detry, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton have all won on either the PGA Tour or DP World Tour this season while stalwarts like Jon Rahm and Justin Rose have performed well in major championships where double points are rewarded.

This has been juxtaposed by the way in which the red, white and blue has begun its collective campaign. Scheffler raised the Wanamaker Trophy for his second crown of the year and the third major championship of his career. Justin Thomas and Russell Henley broke substantial winless droughts, but that is about all the winning that the core of this U.S. team has done on the PGA Tour. Bryson DeChambeau has been playing well over with LIV Golf, however.

Are the Europeans peaking too soon? Are the Americans in danger of falling flat on home soil with a less-than-sturdy back half of the roster?

Let’s take a look at both sides of the conversation and project which players will tee it up at Bethpage Black now that we are past the midway point in the major season.

United States standings

The top six of the U.S. team is locked in with the only question mark potentially being Henley. The Arnold Palmer Invitational winner was terrific alongside the world No. 1 at the Presidents Cup, and outside a downright dreadful back half of the year, he should be wearing the stars and stripes again. 

Those six would make up the six automatic qualifiers with the six captain’s selections comprising the rest of the team.

Cantlay could use a couple good weeks, but he should be a lock barring anything unexpected given his long-term form, fit for Bethpage, partnership with Schauffele and ability in team competitions. That leaves five spots remaining that are up for grabs.

English is someone who has experience, played well on driver-heavy golf course (i.e. his win at Torrey Pines) and acquitted himself nicely in the first two major championships. He will likely get the nod as it stands; the same goes for Daniel Berger, who is getting better by the week.

With three spots remaining, captain Keegan Bradley will need to decide between himself and the likes of McNealy, Novak, Harman, Spaun, Tony Finau, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Max Homa, Akshay Bhatia, Denny McCarthy, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed.

“If we get down to the playoffs, and I’m in the picture, then I’ll start thinking about it,” Bradley said about the possibility of serving as a playing captain. “But I’m thinking of myself as a player first.”

There is no doubt that Bradley is a top-12 American, but it would largely be regarded as a mistake for him to juggle both responsibilities given the importance of the Ryder Cup. If we were making the call, he is on the team — largely because he deserves it, and we’re agents of chaos. However, if Bradley leaves himself off, that creates an additional roster spot.

The winds could shift dramatically in determining those final spots if any of the contenders wins a major championship like Harman and Clark did in 2023. Spieth has shown enough to be paired with his good friend, Thomas, and the prospect of McNealy is interesting given he’s sufficiently long and one of the best putters in the world.

Brooks Koepka has yet to be mentioned despite being invited to the recent Ryder Cup team dinner largely because his form has fallen off. If he makes noise in the last two majors, sure, why not? The same goes for someone like Homa. It would be great to see Reed on the team in New York, but he’s next exactly a … let’s say … culture fit.

J.T. Poston has been a name to watch since last fall; he’s quickly and progressively playin better golf. Some consideration may be warranted if that continues. Meanwhile, let’s continue to poke Davis Thompson with a stick asking him to do something so he can make this team.

Europe standings

The European team appears much more straightforward than the U.S. team, because, well, their stars have looked the part the first half of the season. Like the U.S., Europe will have six captain’s picks, but there may not need to be a ton of thought put into them.

The top eight in the current standings are going to be on the team with the only “maybe” being Højgaard. I walked a practice round with him and McIlroy at the PGA Championship, and the talent level is sky high. He was pumping driver past McIlroy, and the upside is undeniable. His twin, Nicolai, was on the team in Rome, and I believe it will be his time to wear the gold and blue at Bethpage.

This leaves four remaining roster spots with two going to Hovland and Rahm. There’s just no way Donald leaves these players off the team, and they will surely up their candidacies as the summer progresses. 

With two spots remaining, Donald will have a number of avenues which he can go down. There are a couple of LIV Golf members who could illicit some attention in European stalwart Sergio Garcia and young Ulsterman Tom McKibbin.

“Obviously, the way I’m playing, even if Luke offered me a pick right now, I would tell him, ‘No,'” Garcia said at the PGA Championship. “So, obviously, I need to get better. I need to get more where I was just before the Masters. You know, just show myself and show everyone that my game is solid, and it can help the Team Europe. It’s as simple as that. The good thing is that there’s still two or three months until the team is finalized. So, I’ll have time to gain some confidence and improve a little bit on my game.”

If Donald chooses to forgo those two, he has a pair of players from his 2023 roster in waiting in Robert MacIntyre and Matt Fitzpatrick. Both have flashed quality play at various stages this year — MacIntyre in the early part and Fitzpatrick at the PGA Championship. If they continue to do so with a hair more consistency, the roster spots will likely be theirs.

Donald could go down the list with Detry, Wallace and Norgaard, but don’t be surprised if he gives someone like Aaron Rai some attention. The Englishman is deadly accurate off the tee and won on the PGA Tour last season. As for a potential X-factor, Alex Noren could be a name to keep an eye on as he returned from injury recently and contended at the PGA Championship.