Oh, how the tables turn.
In mid-April, when Rory McIlroy won the Masters, the U.S. Ryder Cup nightmare appeared to be in full swing. Through the first stanza of the major calendar, the Euros had grabbed the season by the horns, with McIlroy’s three wins fullbacking victories by Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland — and arriving in the foreground of Jon Rahm’s continued strong LIV play. The Americans, meanwhile, were struggling just to tee it up. Scottie Scheffler was grinding his way back from surprise hand surgery in January, providing his first glimpse at life as a mere golfing mortal. Xander Schauffele was grinding his way back from an intercostal muscle strain that would linger for much of 2025. And Jordan Spieth was recovering from wrist surgery that appeared to have been preempted by a career low point.
Three months later, the concerns of the American internet cognoscenti appear to have quieted … for the moment. The U.S. roster is suddenly flush with form and health, and the Americans are riding victories in the final three majors of the year. Scheffler in specific has re-emerged as a force, entering the home stretch before the Ryder Cup fresh off completing the third leg of the grand slam in a blowout at Royal Portrush.
But the Americans are not the only ones with an advantage. The Euros have seen a recent resurgence of talent, and turn to Bethpage with the roster considerably deeper than 2023 in Rome (when, you might remember, they blew the doors off Zach Johnson’s U.S. side).
With the Open out of the way and the golf world finally turning its attention to Bethpage, let’s take stock of the players on both sides of the ledger, starting with the biggest member of the home team.
The Blue Bloods
Scottie Scheffler: Stock UP
Winning two majors in a year, getting three-quarters of the way to the career Grand Slam, and generally providing golf with the closest comparison to Tiger Woods of the last three decades? Yeah, I’d say Scottie Scheffler has had a good year.
He has not played well in match play events historically, but I don’t think it matters very much. He’s so much better than everyone else that he’ll be a major advantage for the Americans. And if his FDNY sweatshirt’s appearance at the Open was any indication, he’ll know how to endear himself to the Long Island faithful, too.
Rory McIlroy: Stock NEUTRAL
There is a clear best player in the world. There is also a clear second-best. His name is Rory McIlroy, and his performance under the spotlight in his home Open shows just how much his game has matured and hardened with age.
McIlroy and Scheffler have been the main characters of the year in golf, and barring some sort of injury, the same will be true of the Ryder Cup. Anyone expecting McIlroy to repeat the Ryder Cup failures of his youth at Bethpage will be sorely mistaken.
Jon Rahm: Stock NEUTRAL
A slightly disappointing major season for Rahm includes a pair of top 10s and a bunch of other really good rounds. In other words, he’s a lock to be one of the most valuable players on the European side.
Xander Schauffele: Stock UP
If Xander Schauffele weren’t one of this generation’s most underrated players, he might have flopped at the Open, giving fans ample reason to tune out after winning two majors in 2024.
Fortunately, Schauffele is one of this generation’s most underrated players, and he starred in the Open, grinding out a T7 finish to end a frustrating major season on a strong note. The injury bug wasn’t his friend in ’25, but his game is headed in the right direction for Bethpage.
(An aside: The 293-yard 2-iron I watched him hit from the left rough on the 7th hole during Wednesday’s practice round at Portrush will live in my memory forever.)
Bryson DeChambeau: Stock Is Actually Flood Insurance
DeChambeau was in full form on Sunday at the Open when he spoke — in a tone much too serious to be sincere — about the “tsunami of a crowd” he hoped to bring to Bethpage.
He was obviously hamming it up, but I was actually impressed by another answer he gave earlier in the press conference about his growth over the last half-decade as a teammate. Bryson is a total wild card in the Ryder Cup, but I think he’s a much better fit for the environment than he lets on.
Patrick Cantlay: Stock DOWN
It was a down year at the majors for Cantlay, who missed three cuts and generally struggled to get it into gear when the lights were brightest. He enters Ryder Cup season ranked 23rd in the world, 19 spots lower than when he arrived at Rome in 2023 as an American match-play killer.
He’s still likely to make the roster (his aforementioned match play record is unimpeachable, and he’s played sneaky-well on the PGA Tour this year), but Cantlay didn’t do much to help himself during the big ones. He’s opened up a window of uncertainty.
Viktor Hovland: Is Sourcing Stock Tips from Reddit
Hovland was the third head of a three-headed European monster in Rome in 2023. Now, with September looming, it’s hard to make sense of where his game is — not the least bit because he’s spending some of his time on Tour taking mid-week excursions to world heritage sites and pondering the existence of aliens.
Is he the guy who finished third at the U.S. Open? Possible! Is he the guy who WD’d from the Travelers the following week with a mysterious injury? Definitely possible! Is he the guy who missed four cuts in five weeks to start the season? Still possible! The point, I suppose, is that Viktor is a golfer with an open mind … and at times perhaps too open.
Whichever version arrives at Bethpage, know he will have done his own research.
The Guys You Know
Keegan Bradley: Stock NEUTRAL
A T30 finish at the Open Championship did absolutely nothing to affect Bradley’s chances of serving as playing captain on this Ryder Cup team.
Matt Fitzpatrick: Stock UP
The final major of the year can be a game-changer for a player on the Ryder Cup bubble, and this year, no player on the bubble benefited more than Fitzy.
Sure, T4 wasn’t what he was hoping for when he made it into the final pairing on Saturday, but Fitzpatrick showed form this weekend much closer resembling the golfer who won the 2022 U.S. Open than we’ve seen in some time. It was good for his Ryder Cup chances, yes, but also just good to see: Fitzpatrick is one of golf’s sneaky good talkers when he’s playing well.
Collin Morikawa: Stock DOWN
It’s been a weird year for Morikawa, whose public relations battles outside the ropes have been overshadowed by his struggles inside of them, including multiple caddie changes and the extension of a lengthy winless streak.
The good news is that his golf still tops out as clearly one of the 10 best players alive, the bad news is that his consistency hasn’t. He’s the player on the U.S. side with the most to gain from a strong showing at Bethpage, assuming he’s picked for the team (and we’re assuming he will be, even after a seven-over finish at the Open).
Jordan Spieth: Stock DOWN
Spieth didn’t do anything too notable at Portrush other than talk about Scottie Scheffler. Of course, that’s part of the problem: He hasn’t played noticeably good golf all season.
There’s still hope that Spieth, 26th in the Ryder Cup rankings, will turn it on during the FedEx Cup Playoffs to land on the team, but it’s dwindling.
Justin Thomas: Stock UP
I’m not sure JT would call his season a “feel-good story,” but I’d argue it is. It’s easy to forget now that Thomas spent the Open Championship two years ago plumbing the depths of his pro career, scraping through the 3M Open and Wyndham Championship just for a chance at the U.S. team in Rome. He’s back in Justin Thomas form in 2025, and though that hasn’t netted many wins, a 7th-place spot in the rankings is good enough to ensure he’ll be at Bethpage.
The Hopefuls
Chris Gotterup: Stock UP
A Southern New Jersey guy through and through (read: porkroll, not Taylor Ham), Chris Gotterup picked a hell of a few weeks to play the best golf of his life. A win at the Scottish Open and a T3 at the Open have him suddenly screaming into position for a spot on the U.S. roster, where he’d be the closest thing to a hometown kid.
Bob MacIntyre: Stock UP
Depending upon your roster arithmetic, Bobby was either the last or penultimate pick to make it onto the European roster in 2023. He’s second in the current Ryder Cup rankings after strong finishes in each of his last two major starts.
MacIntyre has shown some serious gumption as a player over the last 24 months, and when he’s wearing the blue and gold at Bethpage in September, it won’t be hard to figure out why.
Ludvig Aberg: Buy Low
It was a nauseating year for those on the Ludvig train: A career-altering win at the Genesis Invitational in February followed by a bunch of quiet months. The good news? A sneaky top-25 finish at the Open has him as the ideal sleeper candidate heading into the fall.
