24 of the world’s best players will tee it up this week in New York at the famed Bethpage Black course for the 45th playing of the Ryder Cup. Named after the British businessman Samuel Ryder, who donated the first trophy after the initial tournament in 1927, the Ryder Cup has become one of the world’s greatest sporting events.
Every two years, the top players from Europe and the United States compete in a match play format, with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The 2025 Ryder Cup promises to be one of the most electrifying and competitive editions in recent times.
As one of the sport’s most storied team events, the Ryder Cup combines national pride, high-stakes match play, and a passionate fan atmosphere unlike any other tournament. With its proximity to New York City, the setting on Long Island ensures a boisterous and energetic crowd that will add to the already high-pressure environment. Coming off another road defeat in 2023, the U.S. team will be under immense pressure to defend its home turf.
Bethpage Black is well known for its lengthy, demanding layout, dense rough, and fast greens surrounded by treacherous bunkers. Having hosted multiple major championships, Bethpage Black has already built a reputation as one of the toughest public courses in the United States, and its first Ryder Cup will showcase those qualities on golf’s grandest team stage.
In the all-time standings, Team USA leads the series 27-15 with two ties. At the 2023 Ryder Cup, held at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome, Italy, Team Europe defeated Team USA 16.5-11.5.
The Teams
The qualifying criteria for each team are different. For the U.S., a points system has been in place since the 2019 season, with players collecting points up until the completion of the 2025 BMW Championship. Automatic qualifiers include Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Harris English, J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, and Bryson DeChambeau, each bringing a combination of experience and recent form to the roster. The remaining six spots were filled by captain Keegan Bradley following the conclusion of the 2025 PGA TOUR season. Bradley’s selections were Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, Ben Griffin, Collin Morikawa, JustinThomas, and Cameron Young.
Qualification for Team Europe began at the 2024 BMW PGA Championship, the fourth Rolex Series event of the 2024 season. It concluded on August 24, 2025, when the six players (Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, and Rasmus Hojgaard) who qualified automatically were confirmed. These six automatic qualifiers comprised the three leading players on the European Points List, followed by the three leading players on the World Points List. European Captain Luke Donald selected Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Sepp Straka as his six “Captain’s Picks” to complete the European roster.
Ryder Cup Format and Scoring
The Ryder Cup employs a match play format, unlike the typical stroke play format used each week on the PGA Tour. Match play is a form of competition where a player (or players) plays directly against an opponent (or opponents) in a head-to-head match. You win a hole by completing it in the fewest number of strokes, and you win a match when you are winning by more holes than remain to be played. Since 1979, the Ryder Cup has consisted of two days of four-ball and foursome matches, along with one day of singles matches.
FOUR-BALL Each member of a two-man team plays his own ball, so four balls are in play on every hole. Each team counts the lowest of its two scores on each hole, and the team whose player has the lowest score wins the hole. If the low scores are tied, the hole is halved.
FOURSOMES Each two-man team plays one ball per hole, with the players taking turns until each hole is complete. Players alternate hitting tee shots, with one leading off on odd-numbered holes, and the other hitting first on even-numbered holes. The team with the low score on each hole wins that hole. If their scores are tied, the hole is halved.
SINGLES Each match features one player from each team. The player with the lower score on each hole wins that hole. If their scores are tied, the hole is halved. Players can concede a hole to their opponent if they have no chance of halving the hole.
Scoring: Each match is worth one point, with matches ending in a tie worth ½ point to each side. There are no extra holes in Ryder Cup matches. The first team to reach 14 ½ points wins the Ryder Cup. If the matches end in a 14-14 tie, the team holding the Ryder Cup retains it.
Tale of the Tape
Here is a look at how the teams stack up from a rank, form, and match play history perspective. Players are shown with their DataGolf ranking. Form is measured using DataGolf’s adjusted strokes gained per round over the last 12 months. Three data points are used for match play history. The first is their overall Ryder Cup record. The second is career singles record in match play competition, which, along with the Ryder Cup, also includes the Dell Match Play event and the Presidents Cup. Finally, each player’s career team record in both foursomes and four-ball competitions in those same events is also included. 
Betting Selections
*Check the Discord for any additional selections before the events starts on Friday morning
Top Overall Points Scorer – Scottie Scheffler +500 (1u) – FanDuel
Top U.S. Points Scorer – Justin Thomas +1700 (0.5u) – FanDuel
Top Scandinavian – Viktor Hovland +120 (1u) – Bet365
It’s important to note that any single golfer could be involved in up to five matches in the five different sessions. The only requirement is that every golfer plays in the Sunday singles. This means that some golfers will play two or three sessions, while a few, like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, are pretty much guaranteed to play all five sessions. The only matchups and pairings that we will know before lock (announced Thursday afternoon) will be for the Friday AM session, which leaves us with a lot of guesswork.
DraftKings Strategy and Picks
With it being match play for this tournament, there is a captain spot on DraftKings (1.5x the salary and 1.5x the fantasy production), which adds another layer of strategy to roster construction. It is imperative to select a captain that will play in as many match opportunities as possible. Finding a low-priced captain who will play at least three matches (hopefully four) is one of the keys to unlocking higher upside lineups that can fit more of the elite options. With that in mind, my favorite captain plays at the moment are Justin Thomas ($7.8K), Viktor Hovland ($8.0K) and Patrick Cantlay ($8.2K). Thomas and Cantlay should both play four matches, while Hovland has played all five matches in the two previous Ryder Cups. I love all three in the regular roster position as well.
Obviously, the paramount goal this week is to maximize the number of matches played from golfers in your lineup. With only 24 players to choose from, and only a handful that will play four or more matches, the key to success will be to predict which value players to include in your player pool. There are some pairings that we can expect to stick together such as Cantlay/Schauffele, McIlroy/Fleetwood, and potentially Scheffler/Henley, but all it takes is one bad round for the captains to switch things up.
It is also important to remember that teammates in matches get the same number of DraftKings points. There are two different options related to capitalizing on this structure. Taking both partners (for example, Scheffler and Henley) will give you double the points based on their results. The second option is to simply take the cheaper partner. In this example, Henley is $3.8k cheaper than Scheffler. Considering they are likely to play at least a couple of matches together, you can benefit with the same amount points for one of them, and can save salary at the same time.
DraftKings Core Selections
Scottie Scheffler – $17.1K captain, $11.4K regular
Although Scheffler’s captain salary is steep, his guaranteed five-match workload, combined with his status as the world’s top player on the favored side, makes him an appealing option. However, rostering him at captain typically requires dropping down to a Cantlay/Hovland-level captain or lower to maintain roster flexibility and build a viable lineup. As mentioned above, if Scheffler is actually paired with Henley for multiple matches, it probably makes more sense to drop down to Henley at 7.6K (11.4K captain).
Justin Thomas – $11.7K captain, $7.8K regular
Thomas is the heart and soul of this team. I firmly expect him to play at least three matches and possibly four. He thrives in match-play competition as evidenced by his team leading 7-4-2 Ryder Cup record. If he is partnered with Bryson DeChambeau in Friday’s foursomes, it will only enforce my interest in him as DeChambeau’s bombs off the tee will put Thomas in a position of strength with a wedge or short-iron in his hand. He has also been one of the best putters in this field over the last few months from the key range of 5-15 feet.
Patrick Cantlay – $12.3K captain, $8.2K regular
While Thomas has the best career team record on the American side, Cantlay has an elite singles record at 13-6-2 along with a career overall 5-2-1 record in the Ryder Cup. He was the one American who did his part to try to turn the momentum on Sunday in Rome back in 2023 and is consistently good in each of the SG categories. If his pairing with Xander Schauffele can get off to a good start in foursomes, he has the potential to play 4+ matches.
Viktor Hovland – $12.0K captain, $8.0K regular
Hovland has been one of Europe’s most trusted players over the last two Ryder Cups. His chemistry and ball-striking combination with fellow Scandinavian, Ludvig Aberg, is a serious threat to an American victory. He ranks second in the field in recent approach play and is one of the best long-iron players in the world.
Remaining golfers in my player pool: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Ludvig Aberg, Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton, Cameron Young, Robert MacIntyre, Ben Griffin, Justin Rose.
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