Two Talented Teams
Donald, the first person for either side to serve as captain in consecutive Ryder Cups since Scotsman Bernard Gallacher did so for the European team in 1991, 1993 and 1995, called Scheffler “the most complete player in the game right now” after the American’s victory at Royal Portrush in July.
“He (Scheffler) is very consistent and has complete control of all facets of his game,” says Donald. “Both sides (for the Ryder Cup) will have strong teams, and our leader (McIlroy) is pretty great himself. Match play is a bit different than what we normally see, but Scottie and Rory have proven they can both play no matter what the format or the venue.”
Indeed, McIlroy brings a wealth of experience to the Ryder Cup, compiling a 16-13-4 record and giving Europe 18 points in 33 matches and seven Cup appearances.
“The Ryder Cup is a different experience than what we do every other week of the year,” said McIlroy after his T7 finish at Royal Portrush, seven shots behind Scheffler. “Right now, Scottie Scheffler is setting a high bar for everyone else to reach. With the Ryder Cup back in the States this year, you have to favor the U.S. Team, but it should be more balanced than a lot of people think. They have their stars and we have our stars. Sometimes it just comes down to which team is making putts and playing better that particular week.”
Top Performers in Majors
One of the barometers both Ryder Cup Captains used to determine who belongs on their respective squads at Bethpage Black was performance in 2025 major championships. Only 15 players made the cut in all four majors, with Scheffler outperforming all others by a landslide at 32-under-par. Northern Ireland’s McIlroy was a distant second in the majors at 11-under, followed by American Xander Schauffele (10-under), Spain’s Jon Rahm (6-under), American Harris English (5-under), England’s Matt Fitzpatrick and Tyrrell Hatton (both 1-under), U.S. Open winner J.J. Spahn (1-over) and Norway’s Viktor Hovland (3-over).
Schauffele, who is one of several potential partners for No. 1-ranked Scheffler in the Ryder Cup, believes Scheffler is setting the new standard in professional golf by which all others are measured. He sees in Scheffler the new Tiger Woods, who set a high bar himself while winning 15 majors during his reign at No. 1 in the world.
“I don’t think we thought the golfing world would see someone as dominant as Tiger come through so soon, and here’s Scottie sort of taking that throne of dominance,” said Schauffele after the Open Championship at Royal Portrush. “You can’t even say he’s on a run. He’s just been killing it for over two years now. He’s a tough man to beat, and when you see his name up on the leaderboard, it sucks for us. He’s the guy you want on your team in the Ryder Cup.”
Scheffler has won each of his four majors by three or more strokes, which puts him in the elite company of Woods, Jack Nicklaus and Ben Hogan. He needs only a U.S. Open title to complete the career Grand Slam, which he could do as early as next June at Shinnecock Hills down the road from Bethpage Black on Long Island.
The comparisons to Tiger? Scheffler isn’t buying it. At least, not yet.
“I think Tiger stands alone in the game of golf,” says Scheffler, who had held the No. 1 position in the Official World Golf Rankings for 150 weeks entering the FedEx Cup playoffs in August. “Talk to me in 12–15 years and we’ll see. Right now, it’s a little silly (to compare him to Tiger).”
To Play or Not to Play
While players such as Scheffler, Schauffele, Spaun, Russell Henley, two-time U.S. Open Champion Bryson DeChambeau and Harris English were already being measured for Team USA haberdashery as July melted into August, there was a great debate over whether Bradley would fill the dual role of player-captain. After he won the Travelers Championship in June for his eighth victory on the PGA TOUR, Bradley soared to seventh in the Official World Golf Rankings and said he would consider playing “If I felt that would be best for the team.”
Bradley has continued his stellar play throughout the summer and is being endorsed as the first player-captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963 by Bradley’s Vice Captains and by the players who have already clinched spots on the U.S. Team for the 2025 Ryder Cup. Bradley showed his love for match play in the 2024 Presidents Cup, when he compiled a 2-1-0 record and clinched the winning point for the U.S. Team.
“Everybody knows how much I love the Ryder Cup and I’ve been grinding every year I’ve been out here (on the PGA TOUR) to make the U.S. Team,” says Bradley, who went 3-1-0 in his Ryder Cup debut at Medinah in 2012 and was 1-2 in 2014 at Gleneagles in Scotland. “This time, when I was asked to be the captain, I wasn’t focused on playing – just on being the best captain possible and helping the other guys.”
“With regard to Keegan playing, I think everybody on the team wants Keegan to play great and make the team,” says U.S. Team Vice Captain Brandt Snedeker (joined by fellow Vice Captains Jim Furyk, Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson and Gary Woodland), who will captain the U.S. Team in the 2025 Presidents Cup. “That’s something that the players have spoken about quite openly, that they think Keegan is one of the 12 best players in the world now on the American side.”
U.S. Has Home Advantage
The value of playing on home soil has been debated endlessly in the Ryder Cup. The fact is, while Europe has a 30-year winning streak at home against the U.S. Team, the Americans lost at home at Medinah in 2012, at Oakland Hills in 2004, at Oak Hill in 1995 and at Muirfield Village in 1987. That’s four European wins in the past eight attempts on American soil.
Bradley, who played Bethpage Black hundreds of times as a collegian at St. John’s University, is well aware of recent history. But he believes the U.S. squad will have a substantial advantage playing at home, especially with the sports-savvy, boisterous New York crowd offering support.
“The fans are going to be our 13th team member,” Bradley promises. “I’ve always been under the impression that Bethpage is New York’s home course. Winged Foot and Shinnecock are amazing courses in the area, but when you talk to a real New Yorker, they brag about Bethpage.
“I’ve always thought of Bethpage as New York’s home course, which is now America’s home course. And I want the fans to treat it that way.”
Bigger and Better Than Ever
Bryan Karns, 2025 Ryder Cup Championship Director for the PGA of America, says this month’s matches at Bethpage Black will be the largest buildout by all metrics ever undertaken for a special event by the PGA. He also revealed that about 15 percent of Ryder Cup ticket sales went to fans in Europe or overseas, a development he attributes to the universal allure of New York City combined with the electric atmosphere generated by the Ryder Cup.
“The New York market is as big as it gets, so that was the accelerator that will make this the biggest buildout in Ryder Cup history,” explains Karns. “In addition to being a massive U.S. hub, New York is much more accessible to European fans and very desirable to visit because there will be so much to do in addition to attending the Ryder Cup.
“Europe will have its supporters at Bethpage Black, but the U.S. will still be the overwhelming crowd favorite. The buildup to the Ryder Cup has been massive – all in the spirit of elevating the matches to even greater heights.”
The U.S. Team owns a 27-15-2 record since the biennial Ryder Cup matches began in 1927, but Europe has won 12 of the 22 since the U.S. Team vs. Europe Team (rather than Great Britain-Ireland) format began in 1979. What will the 2025 Ryder Cup deliver in the potential matchup between the top two players in the world, and in the battle between both squads and brutish Bethpage Black with all of the New York City area as its stage?
Let the patriotic passion play begin with a marquee fit for Broadway, Wall Street and the Empire State Building. As Sinatra said of New York City, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere; it’s up to you, New York, New York.”
