Luke Donald<\/a> was that this was not the same Jon Rahm who was arguably the closest player to Scottie Scheffler at one point. Out of the top 50 in the world, the Spaniard desperately needed a reaction at the majors this year and he\u2019s got it. A trio of top-15 finishes (T14, T8 and T7) in the first three majors of the season, plus a T34 at the Open, was impressive and he\u2019s back up to third in the DataGolf rankings. Ryder Cup eligibility shouldn\u2019t be an issue despite his presence on LIV Golf, so he\u2019s a guaranteed captain\u2019s pick, and a T2 at LIV Chicago, narrowly missing out to Dean Burmester in a play-off, counts as good preparation ahead of Bethpage.<\/p>\n![\"Tyrrell](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/77c0849dad983421cda627f4dbafdf0eY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzE0MjE5NDU1-2.75266044.jpg\")
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Tyrrell Hatton (right) teamed up hugely effectively with Jon Rahm (left) in the foursomes in Rome (PA Wire)<\/p>\n
Likely on the team<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Sepp](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1711628839.jpg\")
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open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Sepp Straka and Shane Lowry should both be on Team Europe again (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Sepp Straka<\/strong><\/p>\nA captain\u2019s pick in 2023, the Austrian forged a close bond with Shane Lowry, splitting foursomes before dropping a nailbiter in singles with Justin Thomas to post a 1-2-0 debut at the Ryder Cup. Respectable. Slightly ironic then perhaps that it was Lowry and Thomas he beat to win the Truist Championship in May. Entered 2025 as one of the most likely men in the 2023 cohort to miss out on a spot at Bethpage, especially after an underwhelming end to 2024, but has been a runaway freight train in the first half of the year to all but lock down his spot once more. The Truist was his fourth PGA Tour title and the third had come in January when he held off that man Thomas again to win The American Express in California. Has also racked up top-20 finishes for fun, doing so at the Players Championship, FedEx St Jude Championship, Scottish Open, the Memorial, RBC Heritage, Arnold Palmer Classic, Cognizant Classic, Phoenix Open, Pebble Beach Pro-Am and the Sentry, demonstrating almost ludicrous consistency. The only blot is a dismal major record this year, which saw him miss the cut at each of the first three and post a nondescript T52 at the Open. Perhaps a slight weight on Donald\u2019s mind ahead of Bethpage.<\/p>\n
Matt Fitzpatrick<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Matt](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Italy_Ryder_Cup_Golf_81185.jpg\")
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Matt Fitzpatrick\u2019s Ryder Cup record needs drastic improvement (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n
The 2022 US Open champion\u2019s pedigree should mean he\u2019s not far off the \u2018locks\u2019 category but Fitzpatrick desperately needed to rectify his undeniable loss of form with a good summer of results and to his credit, he\u2019s largely done that although a first tournament win since 2023 remains elusive. A T8 at the US PGA was the first flash of a green shoot of recovery before a top-20 at the Travelers Championship, T8s at the Rocket Classic and Wyndham Championship, a T4 at the Scottish Open and, most importantly, a T4 at the Open continued the trend. A dismal-looking Ryder Cup record (1\u20137\u20130) on paper does go against him, though. Narrowly missed a putt in singles against Max Homa in Rome to win the cup, which could have changed the narrative. His length off the tee should enable him to compete at Bethpage Black.<\/p>\n
Rasmus Hojgaard <\/strong><\/p>\nIf the 11 men above will be on the plane barring a shock, the fight for the 12th and final spot in the team appears wide open and will likely be decided by either a last-gasp win for a contender or Donald\u2019s gut feel. Rasmus Hojgaard may be the man in possession currently, almost by default, sitting just outside the automatic qualification spots in eighth. Two promising finishes on the PGA Tour early in 2025 (T12 at the Phoenix Open and T22 at Pebble Beach) to vault him up the list have largely been followed by a whole lot of nothing with a T16 at the Open about the best of it. The highlight before that was scintillating victory at the Irish Open in September 2024, where he outduelled Rorypg McIlroy with a Sunday 65 to win by a stroke, and a third place at the British Masters shortly after showed how competitive he can be in elite company. Look out for his distance off the tee (currently safely in the top 10 on the PGA Tour this season), which could be useful at Bethpage.<\/p>\n
In contention<\/strong><\/p>\nNicolai Hojgaard<\/strong><\/p>\nEurope\u2019s less-heralded Scandinavian rookie from 2023, Nicolai Hojgaard \u2013 twin brother of Rasmus \u2013 picked up half a point from his three matches in Rome which he secured alongside Jon Rahm against the power pairing of Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka in Friday\u2019s fourballs. He showed flashes of his undoubted quality, as well as his youth, across the weekend and the experience will stand him in good stead for future Ryder Cup appearances. Now on a PGA Tour card for 2025, the Dane needs to fend off competition from his brother Rasmus and other contenders by producing something spectacular to retain his place for New York but is currently just stringing together some largely uninspiring results barring T4 at the Scottish Open in an event that doesn\u2019t reveal much about Bethpage suitability.<\/p>\n
![\"Nicolai](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Italy_Ryder_Cup_Golf_55274.jpg\")
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Nicolai Hojgaard was part of the victorious 2023 Ryder Cup team (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)<\/p>\n
Harry Hall <\/strong><\/p>\nHas made his name on the other side of the pond and reaching the Tour Championship is admirable. It\u2019s likely too little, too late for the flat cap-wearing Englishman. Sixth at the BMW Championship, to rise to 17th in the rankings, yet the 28-year-old hinted he has not been in deep conversation with Ryder Cup officials. The best putter in the world, statistically, since May, Hall will likely have to build on this run to ensure a place at Adare Manor in two years time. That or victory at East Lake? Strange things have happened.<\/p>\n
Outsiders<\/strong><\/p>\nAaron Rai<\/strong><\/p>\nA top-20 player in the world in September 2024 was not something many in the sport outside of Team Rai anticipated. But remarkable consistency, culminating in a maiden victory on the PGA Tour at the Wyndham Championship, put him in a commanding position to seize a Ryder Cup debut. A T23 at the Tour Championship, and making three cuts in the 2024 majors, including T19 at Pinehurst in the US Open, suggested Rai was trending nicely and looked the most likely to force Donald\u2019s hand to shake things up. Hasn\u2019t really kicked on in 2025 and could do with another win in the next couple of weeks, otherwise it\u2019ll be tricky to wrest the 12th spot away from the other contenders.<\/p>\n
Thomas Detry<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Belgian appears to be a player on the rise as he enters his 30s, climbing into the world\u2019s top 25 by cruising to victory at the Phoenix Open in February 2025 for his first PGA Tour victory and thrusting himself into the heart of the Ryder Cup conversation. That came after 2024 saw him become a consistent, if not spectacular, performer in US tournaments, missing just two cuts from March through to September, sprinkling in regular top-30 finishes as well as a T2 at the Houston Open, T4 at the PGA Championship, T14 at the US Open and T9 at the Olympics. The victory in Phoenix was the next step but needed to continue his upward trajectory to earn a spot on Donald\u2019s team in New York and has instead shown little over the past few months.<\/p>\n
![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/GettyImages-2157600502.jpg\")
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Thomas Detry has only an outside shot of making the 2025 Ryder Cup team (Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Matt Wallace <\/strong><\/p>\nWallace has started to recapture the form that saw him go on a blazing hot streak back in 2018 to claim three European Tour titles and a top-20 finish at the US PGA Championship in a six-month period, before a T3 at the following year\u2019s PGA \u2013 which coincidentally was held at Bethpage Black. He was as high as 23 in the world at one point and he started the qualification period for the 2025 Ryder Cup like a freight train. A top-10 at the British Masters, a brilliant European Masters victory to seal a first DP World Tour title for six years and a creditable T12 at the star-studded BMW PGA Championship made up an impressive September 2024 for the 35-year-old Englishman. Getting more PGA Tour opportunities in 2025 will only help and has made no secret of his desperation to make the Ryder Cup team. Work to do despite creditable major performances in the form of a T17 at the US PGA and a T23 at the US Open and it\u2019s now or never if he wants to pinch the 12th spot in Donald\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
Predicted European team for the 2025 Ryder Cup<\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Rory McIlroy<\/li>\n
- Bob MacIntyre<\/li>\n
- Tommy Fleetwood<\/li>\n
- Justin Rose<\/li>\n
- Tyrrell Hatton<\/li>\n
- Shane Lowry<\/li>\n
- Viktor Hovland<\/li>\n
- Ludvig Aberg<\/li>\n
- Jon Rahm<\/li>\n
- Sepp Straka <\/li>\n
- Matt Fitzpatrick<\/li>\n
- Rasmus <\/strong>Hojgaard<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
This would be almost identical to the side that vanquished the United States in Rome and although plenty will change between now and September, Rasmus Hojgaard nicks the final spot, bumping his twin brother out of the team. Aaron Rai and Matt Wallace look to have fallen short, and Nicolai Hojgaard might only have continuity from Rome in his favour now. Hall is the final wildcard option, should he post a lofty finish at the Tour Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":355180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[2826,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-355179","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115052009723765550","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/355180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Rory](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-1711798927.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Robert-MacIntyre-of-Scotland-prepares-to-putt-on-the-first-green-at-Caves-Valley-Golf-Club.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Tommy](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/fd76663a2285ccf674f66ef838aaaeeaY29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzA1MjM2MDQy-2.73947610.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Viktor](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI174156858.jpg\")
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