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There are just a couple of weeks to go until Europe take on America in the 2025 Ryder Cup, due to be played at the Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York, from September 26-28.
Initially played between teams from the United States and Great Britain and Ireland, the first match took place in 1927 at Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts.
American dominance saw the team extended to include players from continental Europe from 1979 and, since then, the biennial competition has become one of the most eager-anticipated events in the golfing calendar by both players and fans.
This year will see Scotland’s Robert McIntyre play in his second Ryder Cup, having gone unbeaten on his debut in 2023, when Team Europe triumphed by 16.5 points to 11.5 points in Italy.
He qualified automatically as one of the top six players on the Ryder Cup Points Table, while European captain Luke Donald played it safe with his six captain’s picks - with the expected players chosen.
Meanwhile, the only eyebrows raised at American captain’s Keegan Bradley were at his decision not to pick himself for the team.
But the selection process has not always been so uncontrovertial - here are seven instances when the picks cause consternation, and the stories behind them, according to the experts at National Club Golfer.
5. 2014: Chris Kirk
Chris Kirk enjoyed the best year of his career on the PGA Tour in 2014, winning the McGladrey Classic early on, then the Deutsche Bank at the very end of the season in September. What didn’t help his cause was finishing 14th in the US Ryder Cup points list when it came to captain Tom Watson making his picks, somewhat distanced from the top 12. However, Watson opted for Hunter Mahan who, although he won the Barclays at the end of August, was 25th in the US Ryder Cup points list. He also chose Webb Simpson, who was ranked lower than Kirk, too. America lost at Gleneagles, leading to a memorable inquisition about Watson’s captaincy, largely led by US team member Phil Mickelson. | Getty Images
6. 2016: Russell Knox
In 2015, Russell Knox won the WGC-HSBC Champions. But this was before he joined the European Tour. He got his membership two weeks later for the 2016 season, but the points from his victory didn’t count, and would’ve seen him gain an automatic spot on Darren Clarke’s side. Knox won the 2016 Travelers Championship and broke into the world’s top 20. He came 10th on the world points list, and wasn’t chosen. Thomas Pieters, Martin Kaymer, and Lee Westwood made the team as captain’s picks. | Getty Images
7. 2023: Keegan Bradley
It appeared that US captain Zach Johnson had to choose two players from Sam Burns, Justin Thomas and Keegan Bradley, with how the captain’s picks situation transpired ahead of the 2023 Ryder Cup. He left out Bradley, and the fallout of this selection suggested the Vermont man wasn’t in the ‘in-crowd’, so to speak, and this contributed to Johnson leaving him at home. He was ranked higher than Thomas, Burns and Rickie Fowler in the US points list, but was still left out. The call Johnson made to Bradley was caught on the Netflix cameras while they were filming the popular golf docu-series Full Swing. Then in July 2024, Bradley was named as US Ryder Cup captain for the 2025 matches. | Getty Images