Europe’s Ryder Cup Riches

Europe were victorious in the 2023 Ryder Cup defeating the USA on a scoreline of 16.5-11.5, a five point victory in Marco Simone Golf Club in Italy’s capital of Rome. Europe had a team mixed with youth and experience on that day with European experienced players Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm on the team, but also rookies like Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard had strong showings in their first Ryder Cup. Europe has opened the door for LIV Golf players to compete in this year’s Ryder Cup, giving an opportunity to Ryder Cup legends such as Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter to qualify for the team.

Whether they qualify remains to be seen. There is a lot of competition for places in this European team. Many different European golfers have started the season strongly, such as Thomas Detry, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy. The opportunity is there for Garcia and Poulter but it is unlikely that they will get the rewards.

2023 Ryder Cup Team

Europe had a very strong team last time out, and it was obvious that they had great cohesion and an excellent team spirit with captain Luke Donald at the centre of this. Donald came in as a replacement for Henrik Stenson who left for LIV Golf, giving up his captaincy as a result. Donald has stayed on for the 2025 Ryder Cup and will want to keep this team cohesion that he has developed. The players he had for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome were:

• Rory McIlroy
• Jon Rahm
• Tyrrell Hatton
• Sepp Straka
• Justin Rose
• Shane Lowry
• Robert Macintyre
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Nicolai Hojgaard
• Viktor Hovland
• Ludvig Aberg

This team is full of multi time winners on tours such as Tommy Fleetwood, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre and more. It also has major champions in their ranks with Rory McIlroy (4 majors), Justin Rose (1 major), Shane Lowry (1 major), Matt Fitzpatrick (1 major) and Jon Rahm (2 majors) all key parts of Europe’s team. These 12 players together could be the European team for years to come, barring maybe Justin Rose who is entering the latter stages of his career, but it looks like the European team could get even stronger and could cause a headache for captain Luke Donald.

Potential 2025 Additions

Key players Tyrell Hatton and Rory McIlroy are currently filling the top 2 spots in the European rankings. Shane Lowry is 4th in the rankings following his 2nd place finish at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am to fellow European teammate Rory McIlroy. Potential team rookies Laurie Canter and Niklas Norgaard Moller have put in strong performances on the DP World Tour which has them 9th and 7th in the rankings at this moment. The two potential strong additions to the European Ryder Cup team are Rasmus Hojgaard and Thomas Detry.

Rasmus Hojgaard was unfortunate not to make the 2023 team with his brother Nicolai getting the nod ahead of him, but this time out there is the possibility that they could be partners, which would be a huge addition to the European Ryder Cup team. Hojgaard has had strong finishes since the rankings began both on the DP World Tour and PGA Tour. He finished 2nd to Rory McIlroy at the DP World Tour Championship. On the PGA Tour he finished tied 22nd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and finished tied 12th at the Phoenix Open. Thomas Detry is currently 5th in the Ryder Cup rankings following his win at the Phoenix Open, winning by an impressive 7 shots. Detry will be a huge addition to the European team should he make the team.

The European team from 2023 was very strong as shown in their 5 point win. It will be difficult for them to get the victory in America, having just won once on U.S soil in their last four Ryder Cup’s there. However, the strength in depth in the European team now gives Europe a huge chance of victory and brilliant players will potentially miss out on the Ryder Cup because of this depth.

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