Ryder Cup week is just days away, made evident by each team hosting training camps on their respective sides of the Atlantic — to say nothing of Team Europe’s collective pilgrimage to Long Island Sunday night for a two-day romp around Bethpage Black.
For now, we’ve rounded up all the necessary questions with their likely answers at the moment.
1. Which player changed your mind this weekend?
Tyrrell Hatton. Not just because he was so comfortably sharing a story of an epic hangover. But mostly because he really rounded back into shape at Wentworth. Hatton quietly had not played all that well since coming up just shy at the U.S. Open at Oakmont. He played solid at Royal Portrush, but his LIV Golf performances have amounted to T23, T21, T34 and T32.
In a league of just 54 players … that’s very much not good! But Hatton was back to his typically solid self at the BMW Championship, finishing just four shots back in a tie for fifth. He has more Ryder Cup experience than most observers give him credit for, dating back to that 2018 matches in France.
2. Okay, who is likely to pair together?
That’s why Hatton’s form matters. He played a bunch with Jon Rahm in Rome and is now likely to play a bunch with Rahm again in New York. It’s almost a certainty that they are paired together three times, and all four non-singles matches is in play, too. They’ve played together three times over the last two Cups and have yet to lose a point.
Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley seem destined to be paired together, but I wouldn’t be shocked if Bradley breaks them up. (They’re just two of the best players in the world.) The plodding nature of J.J. Spaun — who practiced with both of them last week — would complement either Scheffler or Henley. Spaun’s ball-striking has been as good as just about anyone in this event (Scheffler excluded, of course), so any combo of these three playing together seems to make good sense.
3. Want a top-heavy roster? Or a deep one?
The Americans have the best player in the world. His name is Scott Scheffler. The Europeans have the next three best players. Their names are Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood.
Which squad are you choosing?
Every step you take further down the list, the better it looks for the Americans. The “worst” five players — in expected skill, according to DataGolf — are all Europeans.
So again, which squad are you choosing?
The answer, as I laid out in full here, might still be the Europeans. Getting your best players to play their best is really the key to winning a Ryder Cup, and that was never more apparent than at Marco Simone two years ago.
When 10 out of 10 Americans in the Procore field make the cut, the natural inclination — if we’re really trying to worry about form — is the two players who weren’t in the field: Xander Schauffele, who just became a first-time father, and Bryson DeChambeau, who wasn’t allowed to play. Both players have had moments of greatness in 2025, but both players mostly made the team on the merits of their success in 2024. Which begs an important question: Do either of them play four matches? For either to play five matches feels unlikely.
Looking across the aisle, a similar situation is brewing. Sepp Straka also recently welcomed a newborn to his family, and though he will be at Bethpage for two days of team camp this week, his form in recent months has been far less consistent than the spring. Rasmus Hojgaard was one of two Europeans to miss the cut at Wentworth, a course that sets up similarly to Bethpage. It wasn’t a bad putting week for Hojgaard, though. It was bad off the tee — his typical strong suit — and his iron game was even worse. Is that more relevant than his previous three weeks, which ended in top 15 finishes?
We’ll let you kick that around at the water cooler, but add those two paragraphs together and you have two questions about higher-ranking Americans … and two questions about lower-ranking Europeans.
Also receiving a vote: Justin Thomas. We are monitoring JT, whose form has been topsy-turving in recent weeks. He’s likely the lifeblood of this roster, with more experience than any other American, captains included. Does that mean he gets an automatic four matches, even if about half of his rounds since Portrush have been below Tour average?
5. Who seems most dialed?
Ludvig Aberg — six straight top 25s. Matt Fitzpatrick — seven top 10s in nine events. Ben Griffin — now ranked the 5th-best golfer in the world by DataGolf. Scottie Scheffler, of course — he’s been dialed for about three years now. Scheffler’s likely partner, Russell Henley — hasn’t finished outside the top 20 since the beginning of June. And lastly, on the dialed front …
6. Who will surprise us next week?
Justice for Sam Burns.
Burns has caught unnecessary strays in his time as a Ryder Cupper, notably for not winning alongside Scheffler in Rome (carrying on from the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow), but also for being the likely last captain’s pick at both this year’s Cup and in 2023. Burns is now, in some ways, the embodiment of why Bradley didn’t choose himself as a playing captain, which killed the hopes of all kinds of golf fans, on either side of the Atlantic.
All of that would seem to add some pressure to Burns’ play next week. But the results of team matches like these can be deceiving. Burns was actually the third-best American at the 2023 Cup, paired well with Collin Morikawa en route to waxing Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg 4 and 3 (in a much-forgotten match) and then went undefeated (3-0-1) at the 2024 Presidents Cup in Montreal. So, is it really a question why he’s on this team? Or is the best putter on the planet an asset ready to break out in a big way in New York? Count me in on Team Burns, who also happens to have T4, T7 and T13 finishes in the last month.
