6 big decisions that helped fuel Europe’s Ryder Cup romp

With Europe claiming the 2023 Ryder Cup by a commanding five-point margin, 16.5-11.5, it’s hard to believe that at times on Sunday afternoon, the result was seemingly still up in the air. The U.S. had a legitimate pathway to victory, but unfortunately, as in the previous two days of play, Europe managed to neutralize the U.S. advantage at just the right time.

One key to Europe’s success this week? Luke Donald’s six captain’s picks. Half of the players on both team’s 12-person rosters were handpicked by their respective captains, and the performance of those players played an enormous role in the Ryder Cup’s outcome. How did the picks stack up against one other? Read on for a complete breakdown.

Ryder Cup captain’s picks performance breakdown

U.S. captain’s picks: Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas 

Europe’s captain’s picks: Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Nicolai Hojgaard, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose and Sepp Straka

Total matches played by U.S. captain’s picks: 20

Total matches played Europe’s captain’s picks: 20

Total points scored by U.S. captain’s picks: 6

Total points scored by Europe’s captain’s picks: 9.5

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These numbers are revealing, because although the captain’s picks for both teams played the same number of total matches, Europe won 3.5 more points.

Where did these points come from? Here’s a breakdown of each format:

U.S. captain’s picks points in foursomes: 0

Europe’s captain’s picks points in foursomes: 5

U.S. captain’s picks points in four-ball: 2

Europe’s captain’s picks points in four-ball: 2

U.S. captain’s picks points in singles: 2.5

Europe’s captain’s picks points in singles: 1.5

Europe was buoyed by a stellar performance from Tommy Fleetwood, who, with a 3-1-0 record, was one of five European players to earn 3 points or more, and earned the clinching point for Europe’s victory in his singles match against Rickie Fowler.

The U.S., conversely, was led by Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas in the captain’s pick category, with them managing only 1.5 points each. Fowler was the only member of either team to fail to score any points, though he did play only two matches.

Captain’s picks rankings by points:

Tommy Fleetwood (EUR): 3 (3-1-0)
Ludvig Aberg (EUR): 2 (2-2-0)
Brooks Koepka (USA): 1.5 (1-1-1)
Shane Lowry (EUR): 1.5 (1-1-1)
Justin Rose (EUR): 1.5 (1-1-1)
Justin Thomas (USA): 1.5 (1-2-1)
Sam Burns (USA): 1 (1-2-0)
Jordan Spieth (USA): 1 (0-2-2)
Sepp Straka (EUR): 1 (1-2-0)
Collin Morikawa (USA): 1 (1-3-1)
Nicolai Hojgaard (EUR): 0.5 (0-2-1)
Rickie Fowler (USA): 0 (0-2-0)

Ultimately, it was the team-play sessions where Europe’s captain’s picks really shined, especially foursomes, in which they scored 5 points compared to the U.S.’s 0.

The deficit highlights the crucial importance of a team’s captain’s picks. For Europe this year, Donald’s selections made a critical difference.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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