Ryder Cup player guide: USA to end struggles in Europe?

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You can see Europe take on the United States in the Ryder Cup from September 29, exclusively live on Sky Sports

We take a look at who features in Zach Johnson’s Team USA at the 2023 Ryder Cup, being held at Marco Simone Golf Club in Italy.

The six automatic qualifiers on the Ryder Cup points list are world No 1 Scottie Scheffler, US Open champion Wyndham Clark and Brian Harman, winner of The Open at Royal Liverpool – both rookies – along with Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele.

Johnson’s six wildcard selections then included five-time major winner, LIV Golf’s Brooks Koepka, as well as Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas to complete the USA’s line-up.

Scottie Scheffler

Age 27. Caps 1. Majors 1

Ryder Cup record: 2-0-1

Singles: 1-0-0. Foursomes: 0-0-0. Fourball: 1-0-1

Can Scottie Scheffler impress for Team USA this week?

The world No 1 is the standout member of a strong-looking US team, although it’s somewhat of a surprise the 27-year-old failed to add a second major to his tally this season.

Scheffler did win The Players in March, along with the Phoenix Open a month prior, while he carded a tied-second finish at the PGA Championship and third at The US Open, albeit he barely threatened the runaway leaders (Brooks Koepka and Wyndham Clark, respectively) on the final day of either event.

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Highlights from the final round of The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass

Scheffler’s pedigree though is undoubted at this early stage of his career and more majors will certainly follow. As for Ryder Cups, it was an impressive start for him on debut two years ago, winning two of his matches and halving the other in Team USA’s convincing win at Whistling Straights.

Wyndham Clark

Age 29. Caps 0. Majors 1

Ryder Cup record: N/A

You would have been forgiven for not knowing the name Wydnham Clark at the start of the year, with the 29-year-old yet to win on the PGA Tour since turning professional in 2017 and a best major finish of tied-75th at the 2021 PGA Championship.

By June 18, however, you were left in no doubt as to who he was and his golfing credentials as Clark raised aloft the US Open trophy – having held off the final-day challenge of four-time major winner Rory McIlroy – to follow off the back of his first tour win at Wells Fargo the month prior.

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Highlights of the final round from the 123rd US Open as Wyndham Clark held off Rory McIlroy to claim his first major win

It does not look like a flash in the pan either, with Clark finishing third at the Tour Championship to close out the FedExCup Playoffs.

Brian Harman

Age 36. Caps 0. Majors 1

Ryder Cup record: N/A

Another Ryder Cup rookie, with Harman catapulting himself into contention much in the same way he blazed his way to the top of the leaderboard en route to winning The Open at Royal Liverpool this summer.

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Highlights from the final round of the 151st The Open championship from the Royal Liverpool Golf Club

Harman carded a six-under 65 on the second day and never looked back, ultimately running away with things to win by a massive six strokes.

Just to stir the competitive juices further among the English fans following the fortunes of Team Europe, Harman bears a striking resemblance to former Australian cricket captain, and great Ashes enemy, Ricky Ponting. Google it, trust us.

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Take a look back at Brian Harman’s final round of 70 that sealed him victory and the Claret Jug at Royal Liverpool

Patrick Cantlay

Age 31. Caps 1. Majors 0

Ryder Cup record: 3-0-1

Singles: 1-0-0. Foursomes: 2-0-0. Fourball: 0-0-1

Slow play or not, Cantlay performed brilliantly on his Ryder Cup debut two years ago, winning three of four matches and halving the other, while he is fully deserving of his spot on this team again as one of the most consistent performers on tour if not always the quickest.

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Patrick Cantlay made quick work of the seventh with this hole-in-one at the RBC Heritage

The 31-year-old has eight PGA Tour wins to his name, including the 2021 season-ending Tour Championship, but he has failed to add to that tally in 2023 and major success still eludes him, with a tied-ninth finish at the PGA Championship his best of the year and only the fourth top 10 of his career.

Max Homa

Age 32. Caps 0. Majors 0

Ryder Cup record: N/A

With six PGA Tour wins in total and five since the start of 2021, Homa has been a popular tip as ‘the next first-time major winner’ on tour.

However, the 32-year-old Homa has not lived up to those lofty expectations quite yet, with his tied-10th finish at The Open this year the first time he has cracked that very top 10.

A debut Ryder Cup cap now gives him a further chance to prove he can cut the mustard when the spotlight is at its brightest and pressure at its most intense.

Xander Schauffele

Age 29. Caps 1. Majors 0

Ryder Cup record: 3-1-0

Singles: 0-1-0. Foursomes: 2-0-0. Fourball: 1-0-0

Xander Schauffele is another to have impressed in his Ryder Cup debut two years ago, with a singles loss to Rory McIlroy to kick off Sunday his only blemish.

His foursomes partnership with Patrick Cantlay proved particularly fruitful, with two wins in two, so could that be a pairing we see again this year?

The 29-year-old has had a solid, if unspectacular, 2023 season, carding top-10 finishes at The Masters and US Open though that first major success still eludes him.

Brooks Koepka

Age 33. Caps 3. Majors 5

Ryder Cup record: 6-5-1

Singles: 2-0-1. Foursomes: 2-2-0. Fourball: 2-3-0

The only LIV Golf representative among the 24-player field, but it’s easy to see why Koepka has been able to bridge the divide despite his absence on the PGA Tour over the last year and a bit.

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As Brooks Koepka aims to win his third US Open title this week, check out his five previous major victories

The 33-year-old won his fifth major in some style, claiming the PGA Championship at Oak Hill courtesy of rounds of 66, 66 and 67 over the final three days. That also followed off the back of a brilliant week at Augusta, albeit one which ended in agonising fashion as he let a two-stroke lead slip to Jon Rahm on the final day to see a maiden Masters win slip through his fingers.

Koepka also brings a decent wedge of Ryder Cup experience to this US team, having appeared in the past three, which has included two big wins for the US either side of losing handily themselves in France in 2018.

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Highlights from the final round of the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill which saw Brooks Koepka lift the trophy for a third time

Jordan Spieth

Age 30. Caps 4. Majors 3

Ryder Cup record: 8-7-3

Singles: 0-3-1. Foursomes: 3-2-2. Fourball: 5-2-0

Spieth is a four-time Ryder Cup veteran, at the age of 30, but it has been a bit of a mixed bag at times for the three-time major winner.

Spieth, for example, has still yet to win a final-day singles matchup, coming closest when halving his tie with Tommy Fleetwood two years ago. In pairing with his US team-mates he has fared much better, particularly when paired with his great mate Justin Thomas – the pair have won four of six matches they have played together.

Spieth had five top-five finishes on tour this year, including coming second to Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage and ending tied for fourth at Augusta in his best placing at a major in 2023.

Collin Morikawa

Age 26. Caps 1. Majors 2

Ryder Cup record: 3-0-1

Singles: 0-0-1. Foursomes: 2-0-0. Fourball: 1-0-0

Two years ago, Morikawa was an absolute shoo-in for the US team, topping the points list – off the back of two major wins over the previous 12 months – to qualify outright.

This time, his path to Italy has not quite been so seamless, relying on a captain’s pick after finishing a still-decent 10th on the points list.

His selection was really a bit of a no-brainer, especially when you consider his success – three wins in four – last time out. That said, his budding partnership with Dustin Johnson, which secured a 100 per cent record in their three matchups, has been broken up. Who will he team up with this time round?

Sam Burns

Age 27. Caps 0. Majors 0

Ryder Cup record: N/A

It was no real surprise to see Burns claim one of Zach Johnson’s captain’s picks, having won five PGA Tour titles since 2021, including the World Matchplay earlier this year.

The 27-year-old is making his Ryder Cup debut, though he did get a little bit of a practice run when part of the US team at the Presidents Cup last year – albeit it did not go particularly well.

Burns went winless from his five ties (three losses, two halves), his partnership with great mate Scottie Scheffler proving far from fruitful as the high-profile pair lost two of their three matches. Will they dare to be paired together again this week?

Rickie Fowler

Age 34. Caps 4. Majors 0

Ryder Cup record: 3-7-5

Singles: 1-2-1. Foursomes: 1-3-2. Fourball: 1-2-2

Fowler has found the Ryder Cup a struggle, winning only three of his 15 career matchups and tasting victory on the US team only once in 2016 (where two of his wins came), having failed to make the team at Whistling Straights two years ago.

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Zane Scotland and Henni Koyack use the Audi Performance Zone to analyse Rickie Fowler’s technique

While Fowler might therefore seem a strange captain’s pick this time round, 2023 has seen the 34-year-old return to somewhere near his best form. Starting the year still outside the world’s top 100, and without a PGA Tour victory since 2019, Fowler’s return to former coach Butch Harmon has reaped stunning results, most notably at this year’s US Open where he equalled the lowest score in men’s major championship history with a stunning eight-under opening round of 62.

Fowler ultimately faded to finished tied-fifth but he would end that PGA Tour title drought less than a month later with success at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

Justin Thomas

Age 30. Caps 2. Majors 2

Ryder Cup record: 6-2-1. Singles: 2-0-0. Foursomes: 3-1-0. Fourball: 1-1-1

Thomas can consider himself somewhat fortunate to earn a captain’s pick after one of his poorest seasons by his high standards.

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Justin Thomas missed the FedExCup Playoffs in a painful way as his chip attempt stayed out after hitting the pin, meaning he finished outside the top 70 in the points standings

The two-time major winner only just secured a spot in the FedExCup playoffs by the skin of his teeth after a dismal run which saw him miss the cut in five of seven PGA Tour starts. Those struggles stretched to the majors too, with his defence of the PGA Championship (finishing tied-65th) the only instance in which he made the weekend.

But, Thomas has earned captain Zach Johnson’s trust likely due to his Ryder Cup pedigree of years past. Thomas has won six of his nine career matches, including claiming four off five when last held on European soil in 2018.

Watch the Ryder Cup this month exclusively live Sky Sports. Live coverage of the opening day begins on Friday September 29 from 6am on Sky Sports Golf. Stream the PGA Tour, Ryder Cup and more with NOW.