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Comparing United States and European Ryder Cup teams: Europe has edge in experience

tom d'angelo, palm beach post
·4 min read

Zach Johnson and Luke Donald recently completed their Ryder Cup teams with Johnson's goal to end a United States' losing streak on European soil that dates to 1993, and Donald hoping to avenge a humiliating 19-9 U.S. victory two years ago at Whistling Straits.

Both captains added six players to the six who automatically qualified for each team. Those 12-man teams will compete Friday-Sunday at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome

Johnson added Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas to Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele.

Donald selected Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Nicolai Højgaard, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Justin Rose. His six qualifiers: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre.

September 25, 2023; Rome, ITALY; Team USA golfer Max Homa (left) talks to golfer Sam Burns (right) on the driving range prior to the start of the Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
September 25, 2023; Rome, ITALY; Team USA golfer Max Homa (left) talks to golfer Sam Burns (right) on the driving range prior to the start of the Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Here's a comparison of the teams:

Ryder Cup experience

Both teams include four rookies: Clark, Harman, Homa and Burns for the US. MacIntyre, Straka, Aberg and Hojgaard for Europe. Aberg is just months removed from competing for Texas Tech.

The remaining US team has 17 years of Ryder Cup experience, led by Spieth and Fowler with four years each. Koepka has played in three previous Ryder Cups and Thomas two. Scheffler, Cantlay, Schauffele and Morikawa all debuted in a Ryder Cup in 2021.

The Europeans are coming with 21 years of Ryder Cup experience, led by McIlroy, who has played in six, and Rose with five previous appearances. Rahm, Hatton and Fleetwood have played in the last two Ryder Cups and Hovland and Lowry one each.

Ryder Cup success

The eight US players with previous Ryder Cup experience have a 34-22-23 record in the biennial event. The eight European veterans are 36-39-12.

Thomas, a controversial pick, is 6-2-1, including going 4-1 in in 2018. Scheffler (2-0-1), Cantlay (3-0-1) and Schauffele (3-1-0) had successful debuts in 2021, a convincing US win in Wisconsin. Spieth (8-7-3) has the most wins and Koepka never has lost a Sunday singles match, going 2-0-1.

McIlroy (12-12-4) and Rose (13-8-2) have combined for 25 of the 36 wins for the eight Europeans who have played previously. Otherwise, Rahm (4-3-1) and Fleetwood (4-2-2) are the lone players with winning records in Ryder Cup play.

Hovland and Fitzpatrick are a combined 0-8-2.

Majors winners

The US squad has seven golfers with a combined 15 majors titles, led by Koepka's five. The team consists of winners of three majors this year: Koepka (PGA Championship), Wyndham (U.S. Open) and Harman (British Open).

The Europeans will arrive with five majors winners who have nine majors titles, led by McIlroy's four. The one golfer on the European team with a win in a major this year is Rahm at the Masters.

Tour titles

This, as expected, it tilted toward the US team when counting PGA Tour wins and favors the Europeans with DP World Tour wins.

The US team has a combined 85 PGA Tour wins with Thomas (15) and Spieth (13) in double figures. Koepka has nine wins on the Tour.

Koepka leads the US team's 26 DP World Tour titles with seven.

The Europeans have 67 PGA Tour titles and 70 on the DP World Tour. McIlroy leads in both with 24 (PGA) and 16 (DP). Rose has 11 wins on both tours and Rahm has 11 firsts on the PGA Tour and 10 on the DP World Tour.

World rankings

Sep 25, 2023; Rome, ITA; Team USA golfer Scottie Scheffler works on the putting green prior to the Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 25, 2023; Rome, ITA; Team USA golfer Scottie Scheffler works on the putting green prior to the Ryder Cup golf competition at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-USA TODAY Sports

Europe has more golfers currently ranked in the top 5; the US has the edge in the top 10 and beyond.

Scheffler is No. 1 in the world. He is followed by three Europeans: McIlroy, Rahm, Hovland. Cantlay is the second highest ranked member of the US team at No. 5.

More: Dustin Johnson understands why he's not on US Ryder Cup team, but believes he should be

The US team also includes Schauffele (No. 6), Homa (7), Harman (9) and Clark (10) in the top 10. Europe has No. 8 Fitzpatrick.

Beyond that, all but two US team members are in the top 20 and its lowest ranked player is Fowler at No. 25. The Europeans have six total in the top 20 and six between 22 and 81.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Comparing US, European Ryder Cup teams in experience, success, majors and more