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18 August 2025
Both the European and American Ryder Cup teams are beginning to take shape with the 45th staging of the biennial contest being held from 26-28 September at Bethpage Black in New York.
All six of the automatic qualifiers for each team are now known.
Europe’s qualification process concluded after the Betfred British Masters on 24 August, with Denmark’s Rasmus Hojgaard claiming the final spot.
He joins Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton, with captain Luke Donald set to announce his six picks on 1 September.
The US qualification period ended a week earlier with Bryson DeChambeau, Russell Henley and Harris English joining Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and JJ Spaun in a team that will be bolstered to 12 by captain Keegan Bradley’s wildcard selections on 27 August.
Hojgaard in as Donald mulls picks
Rasmus Hojgaard was the only player capable of knocking Shane Lowry out of the automatic qualification spots at the British Masters and the Dane dutifully did just that.
He needed a top-29 finish and finished joint 13th.
McIntyre confirmed his spot by finishing runner-up to Scheffler at the PGA Tour’s BMW Championship on 17 August, the final qualifying event for American players. The world number eight was second at June’s US Open and seventh at last month’s Open.
“Bob has put in some big performances on both sides of the Atlantic this season, and that fine form combined with his experience from 2023 will be invaluable in New York,” said Donald of the Scot who contributed 2½ points from three matches in Rome.
The European team should be brimming with confidence given Fleetwood secured his maiden PGA Tour victory at the Tour Championship, while Rose also claimed a victory in the end-of-season play-offs at the St Jude Championship and McIlroy is still smiling from completing the career Grand Slam at the Masters in April.
Six places are left up for grabs though with Donald facing some tough choices.
Spain’s Jon Rahm, who won the LIV Golf individual title for a second successive year, looks nailed on for a wildcard spot, while Sweden’s Ludvig Aberg and Norwegian Viktor Hovland are also likely to be in the 12-strong team.
Lowry also looks a certain pick given he only just missed out on automatic qualification.
Sepp Straka finished just below Lowry, but above Aberg and Hovland in the standings. He has won twice on the PGA Tour this season but his recent form has tailed off a little.
Will Donald go for experience or new blood in what is likely to be a boisterous atmosphere in New York?
Matt Fitzpatrick revealed Donald urged him to play at the British Masters and the Englishman had an excellent start to the tournament. He led by one going into the final round before fading on Sunday.
And while Fitzpatrick’s Ryder Cup record is poor, with just one win and seven defeats across three contests, he did win the 2022 US Open.
Rasmus’ twin brother Nicolai may be in the reckoning. He went close at the Belfry and has the experience of having played in the victory in Rome in 2023.
And could Alex Noren have played his way into contention with Sunday’s victory at the British Masters? The 43-year-old Swede missed seven months of qualification with a hamstring injury but served a timely reminder of his quality. It seems unlikely.
Meanwhile, two Englishmen in Harry Hall and Marco Penge have staked their claims to make Ryder Cup debuts.
Hall has impressed on the PGA Tour, with five top-10s and he finished sixth at last week’s BMW Championship to qualify for the Tour Championship. Prior to that event he had racked up 409 birdies this year, 45 more than any other player.
Penge climbed to 14th in the standings by beating Rasmus Hojgaard by one stroke to claim the DP World Tour’s Danish Golf Championship earlier in August, his second title of the season.
DeChambeau and Scheffler lead US qualifiers
The six American qualifiers were confirmed following the conclusion of the last qualifying event, the BMW Championship.
World number one Scheffler won the US PGA Championship and Open to qualify with ease, also added the BMW Championship title on Sunday.
JJ Spaun, who won the US Open to claim his first major, after being beaten to the Players Championship title in a play-off by McIlroy, was also already qualified.
As was Schauffele, who won the US PGA and Open in 2024. He has had a quieter 2025, although he extended his run of not missing a cut to 58 events – the longest since Tiger Woods set the record at 142. However, he has not qualified for this week’s season-ending 30-man Tour Championship.
English and Henley rubber-stamped their spots over the weekend, while DeChambeau, who plays on the LIV Golf circuit, qualified thanks to six top-10 finishes in the majors during the 17-month qualification period.
Captain Bradley will announce his six captain’s picks to complete the 12-man team on 27 August.
There is a chance that Bradley, 39, could pick himself to play after he finished in a tie for 17th at the BMW Championship, to cement 10th place in the US Ryder Cup standings.
Arnold Palmer was the Ryder Cup’s last playing captain, when he led the US team, aged 34, in 1963.
Major champions Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa were among those to miss out on automatic qualification for the US team.
Ben Griffin, Maverick McNealy and Andrew Novak are the other three Americans in the top-12, but none have appeared at a Ryder Cup before and Bradley may opt for the experience of Patrick Cantlay, who is 15th on the list but has picked up 5½ points in two previous appearances.
Cantlay further pushed his claim for inclusion with a runner-up finish in the Tour Championship, while Bradley also had a good final tournament of the PGA Tour season, only fading out of contention in the closing holes.
Sam Burns and Cameron Young also shone at the Tour Championship, while major winners Brian Harman and Wyndham Clark are also likely to be on Bradley’s radar.
Europe, who won 16½-11½ in Rome in 2023, are looking to become the first away side to win since they triumphed at Medinah in 2012.
