Ryder Cup gala breakdown: the best content from the big night out | Rogers Report

The wives and girlfriends of the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

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Hello friends, and happy Thursday from Marco Simone! My spirits are extremely high after the Lazio vs. Torino Serie A soccer game last night, which I followed up with some gelato!

While those two things definitely have me feeling good, 95 percent of my good vibes have to be attributed to the fact that the Ryder Cup gala was on Wednesday night. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been looking forward to this event for months. And to clarify, I wasn’t even there. It truly is my version of the Met Gala.

They (I’m not really sure who “they” are here, to be honest) shut down the Spanish steps on Wednesday night and turned them into the Ryder Cup’s very own red carpet. After that, the players and their gals headed into town for dinner.

All right, now for what you’ve all been waiting for: the photos from the evening. I searched high and low for the best content from the night so you, my dear readers, can take it all in here in one place.

European Team

It’s only fair that we start off with European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. Apparently his wife, Diane, organized the whole evening, which is no small feat! I think the biggest event I’ve organized is having like, two friends over for dinner.

Diane Donald always brings things to the next level. She’s even rocking European Team Ryder Cup pajamas this week!

Ludvig Aberg

Ludvig Aberg was playing in college golf events six months ago, and this week he’s teeing it up on one of golf’s biggest stages. He seems to be adjusting to this whole fame thing pretty well, and he and Olivia Peet looked dapper as they took on the Spanish steps. While other kids their age are heading to college formals, these two are kicking it with the world’s best golfers! Not a bad deal.

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Ludvig Aberg and Olivia Peet

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Matt Fitzpatrick

Matt Fitzpatrick and Katherine Gaal got engaged in Bay Head, N.J., earlier this month, so this gala (which technically wasn’t a gala, but for lack of a better term that’s what I’ll call it here) was a debut of sorts for the fiancees. And Gaal even wore white! How fitting.

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Matthew Fitzpatrick and Katherine Gaal

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Also, can we take a moment to appreciate how great these professional photos are? My friends really need to step up their Instagram-taking game for me.

Tommy Fleetwood

Tommy and Clare Fleetwood had two big days in a row here at the Ryder Cup. Wednesday evening they got all dressed up, and Thursday was their son Frankie’s sixth birthday.

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Tommy and Clare Fleetwood

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You may remember how Frankie stole the show at the Masters Par 3 Contest a few years back. Thursday at Marco Simone was no different.

How cute is that? Heading into work with your dad might not be an ideal way for most kids to spend their sixth birthday, but it’s probably pretty great if your dad is on the Ryder Cup team.

Tyrrell Hatton

The Hattons had their own moment on the Spanish stairs, but they also invited Viktor Hovland to walk down with them, which was so, so wholesome.

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Tyrrell and Emily Hatton

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Viktor Hovland and the Hattons

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Any picture that includes Viktor Hovland laughing is great for the soul.

Nicolai Hojgaard

Nicolai Hojgaard may be 22, but this photo is giving serious “heading to prom!” vibes in the best way possible. Look at those happy kids! I like to think this has been posted on their parents’ Facebooks.

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Nicolai Hojgaard and Amanda Falkenberg

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Viktor Hovland

On to Viktor Hovland, who may be single but definitely did not arrive alone. He rolled in hand-in-hand with Jose Maria Olazabal, and the two of them stole the show.

Shane Lowry

Shane Lowry arrived with his wife, Wendy, who has become an MVP of Ryder Cup content this week on Instagram. Wendy, if you are reading this: thank you for making my job (okay, social media perusing) a lot easier.

Robert MacIntyre

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Robert MacIntyre and Shannon Hartley

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Rory McIlroy

Okay folks. It’s time. By the power bestowed upon me, I hereby crown Rory and Erica McIlroy the king and queen of the Ryder Cup gala. They look like movie stars!

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Rory and Erica McIlroy

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Fans were going nuts for these two as they walked through town to head to dinner. Also, it kind of looks like Rory is campaigning? Or maybe he’s giving Pope energy? These photos make it look like he’s two steps away from blessing babies in the street.

I won’t lie, as great as this all looks, the whole thing seems very overwhelming.

Jon Rahm

On to our 2023 Masters champion! John and Kelley Rahm killed it.

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John and Kelley Rahm

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Her little basket of flowers there does kind of look like a bucket of range balls, which likely wasn’t on purpose, but was definitely very fitting for the occasion.

Justin Rose

This photo of Justin and Kate Rose absolutely screams elegance.

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Kate and Justin Rose

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I need to know where these gals are finding their dresses, because my Abercrombie ones simply aren’t cutting it anymore.

Sepp Straka

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Sepp Straka and Paige Dean 

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American Team

Zach Johnson

Okay, on to the American team. Shout out to Kim Johnson for sporting a patriotic color and to Zach for cleaning up well. I saw him sporting shorts with some pretty high Ryder Cup socks earlier in the week, which he decided to ditch for a night out on the town.

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Zach and Kim Johnson

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Actually, all the guys on the U.S. team ditched their socks on Wednesday night.

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Members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team

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Can we take a second to look at those sock tans? My goodness.

Sam Burns, Brian Harman

Okay, Getty unfortunately did not provide couples pictures for the American team the way they did for the Europeans. Worry not, I can work with what I’ve got.

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The Harmans, Sam and Caroline Burns

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Brian Harman’s wife, Kelly Van Skyke, wasn’t at the Open when Harman won in July, so Wednesday evening was sort of her “hello, world” in the golf spotlight. Sam Burns’ mullet somehow seemed to work in a formal setting as well, which I was very pleasantly surprised by.

Patrick Cantlay

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Nikki Guidish and Patrick Cantlay

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Wyndham Clark

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Wyndham Clark and Julia Kemmling

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Rickie Fowler

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Rickie and Allison Fowler

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Max Homa

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Max and Lacey Homa

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Brooks Koepka

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Brooks Koepka and Jena Sims

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Collin Morikawa

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Collin and Kat Morikawa

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Xander Schauffele

Xander Schauffele looked a lot more relaxed on the Spanish steps than he did when I interrogated him about the Ryder Cup and more a few weeks ago.

Scottie Scheffler

The first couple of golf looked fabulous on Wednesday night, and Scheffler snapped some photos of his own.

I love that he took some solo shots of Meredith, but I do worry a little bit about his technique here. He’s much taller than her and leaning back to take the photo. Is he photographing her from the neck up? The dress deserves to be photographed, too!

I’d love to see how these photos came out. And in the meantime, if you are a professional golfer in need of an Instagram-taking lesson, hit me up. I can help you take your skills to the next level (my references here include my father, who I dragged over to a golf course with a camera in March of 2017 to teach him how to correctly take great photos before we headed to the Masters together a month later).

Jordan Spieth

Annie Spieth had a baby a few weeks ago, so she didn’t make the trip to Rome this week. Worry not, because we still got some photos of Jordan doing his thing.

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Jordan Spieth

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And like any good friend should, Spieth made sure to get some photos of his pals Justin and Jillian. He seems to be taking some good pictures — he’s got the Thomases in the foreground of the photo with the camera tilted up just a bit in order to capture the scenery as well.

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Jordan Spieth takes a photo of Jill and Justin Thomas

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If Spieth ever explores a career change, he should look into photography.

As for Annie, she was involved in the gala thanks to some creativity from the fellow U.S. Ryder Cup team wives who photoshopped her into a photo.

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The better halves of the U.S. Ryder Cup team

Maya Schauffele

Justin Thomas

The thing about the Ryder Cup gala is that there’s always going to be a meme that comes out of it. In 2018, it was Dustin and Paulina. This year, we have Justin and Jillian Thomas to thank for taking over.

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Jillian and Justin Thomas

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What a night! I’m already excited for the 2025 Ryder Cup gala in New York.

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Claire Rogers

Golf.com Editor

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