From Rory’s career year to Tommy Fleetwood’s foursomes record and the least changed team in history, here are 10 things you need to know about Team Europe ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
The most unchanged side in European Ryder Cup history
In the history of Team Europe at the Ryder Cup, there has never been a side so unchanged as the one teeing up at Bethpage Black for the 2025 biennial contest. With 11 of the 12 members returning to the squad, only Nicolai Højgaard is missing – having been replaced by twin brother Rasmus, who automatically qualified for the team this year. The previous lowest number of changes since the first European side teed up in 1979 has been three, which most recently happened in 1989. The team that triumphed in 1987 saw Bernard Gallacher, Brian Waites and Gordon Brand Jnr replaced by José Rivero, Howard Clark and Manuel Piñero, who went on to help Europe retain the Cup.
Repeat Captain
ROME, ITALY – OCTOBER 01: Team Europe Captain Luke Donald lifts the trophy with his team after his team win during the Sunday singles matches of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on October 01, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)It’s not only Luke and 11 members of the playing team that have stayed the same either. He has four returning Vice Captains in José María Olazábal, Thomas Bjørn, Edoardo Molinari and Francesco Molinari, with one addition: Alex Noren, who ended a seven year wait for victory with two wins in his last three starts on the DP World Tour at both the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo and BMW PGA Championship.
The first away practice trip
FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 15: (Top L-R) Vice-captain Alex Noren, vice-captain Edoardo Molinari, vice-captain Francesco Molinari, Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka, Jon Rahm, Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre, Shane Lowry, Rory McIlroy, Rasmus Hojgaard, vice-captain Jose Maria Olazabal, and vice captain Thomas Bjorn (Bottom L-R) Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, team captain Luke Donald, Tommy Fleetwood, and Viktor Hovland of Team Europe sit for the official team photo ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup at Black Course at Bethpage State Park Golf Course on September 15, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)And while there are elements of continuity in Donald’s pre-event strategy, he has already confirmed he isn’t keeping everything rigid. What he is focused on, is giving his team the best chance possible for an away victory.
“Even though we have a lot of continuity, this is a different animal, to play away in America,” he said. “We understand how difficult that is. I’ve looked at it from very different angles to try and get us prepared for this amazing challenge ahead.
“As I said, it’s a different animal. It’s a different challenge. Obviously having the chance to do it again doesn’t mean we’re going to do the same things we did in Rome. That’s about implementing new techniques. I’ve really tried to look hard at exactly what this will require.
“I’m very aware that we have lost three of the last four away Ryder Cups by significant margins, and it’s a tough challenge. It’s a tough environment. But I’ve tried everything I can to give our team the best opportunity.
“Just because we have a very similar team doesn’t mean we are going to roll out the same pairings or the same line-up in foursomes and fourballs. I think over a two-year period, these players do change. Their profiles change, and we’ll adapt to that.
“This certainly isn’t a question of rinse and repeat from Rome. Again, I’ve mentioned this many times, the strategies and the thought processes that I’m trying to come at in this one is quite different to what we did in Rome. So again, it’s nice to have a continuity within the team, the memories, the experiences that we got to celebrate together.”
Medinah Memories
MEDINAH, IL – SEPTEMBER 30: Luke Donald of Europe and Europe captain Jose Maria Olazabal celebrate after Europe defeats the United States at The 39th Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club on September 30, 2012 in Medinah, Illinois. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)Winning a Ryder Cup away has always been a difficult task, and the current streak has now stretched to 13 years since Europe managed the famous Miracle at Medinah. Donald was a member of that winning team, and has a number of other players and Vice Captains that shared that dressing room with him.
At the forefront of that is 2012 Captain Olazábal, 2012 Vice Captain and 2018 Captain Bjørn, as well as fellow 2012 team-mates Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose – both playing this year – and Francesco Molinari, who memorably earned a singles point against Tiger Woods at Medinah and returns for a second consecutive year as a Vice Captain. With a group both largely unchanged and several members that can draw on memories of that emphatic win, Donald will likely be using those memories as motivation for his team this week.
Fleetwood’s unbeaten foursomes record
Fleetwood has become a pivotal member of Team Europe, which began with a headline-stealing debut as he and Francesco Molinari became the first European pairing in history to win all four of their matches in a Ryder Cup. That year he lost to Tony Finau in singles, but still cemented himself in the record books with the most points ever won by a European rookie, tying with Thomas Pieters, who went 4-1-0 in 2016.
Whistling Straits was evidently tougher for Europe and that was true too for Fleetwood, who partnered with Viktor Hovland for one draw and one loss in fourballs, and tied with Jordan Spieth in the singles. He didn’t play either foursomes session in 2021.
But at Marco Simone, Fleetwood once again proved his ability for success in alternate shot, partnering with McIlroy in both foursomes sessions with great success, earning two points with 2&1 victories over Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay on Friday, and Justin Thomas and Spieth on Saturday. He and Nicolai Højgaard lost their fourballs match on Saturday afternoon, but Fleetwood rallied for his first full singles point in a Ryder Cup with a 3&1 victory over Rickie Fowler, the point which guaranteed victory for his side.
From three Ryder Cup appearances, Fleetwood has a foursomes record of 4-0-0.
Europe’s only Rookie: Rasmus Højgaard
FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 16: Rasmus Højgaard of Team Europe reacts during a practice round at Black Course at Bethpage State Park Golf Course on September 16, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)Rasmus Højgaard will make his Ryder Cup debut as part of Donald’s European Team, replacing twin brother Nicolai as the only change in this year’s side. A five-time winner on the DP World Tour, Højgaard narrowly missed out on selection in 2023 but guaranteed his place this time around by finishing fifth in the European Team Rankings to secure automatic qualification. And while he wasn’t part of the team playing two years ago, Rasmus got a front-row seat to the action as a buggy driver at Marco Simone for Bjørn.
The Dane, who became the third youngest winner in DP World Tour history in 2019 with an eagle on the third play-off hole at the 2019 AfraAsian Mauritius Bank Open in just his fifth event on Tour, enjoyed a strong start to the qualification process. He finished third at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo and then went low to deny McIlroy and win the 2024 Amgen Irish Open, before ending the 2024 season with a runner-up finish at the DP World Tour Championship. Upon the turn of the year, results proved harder to come by and he was outside the qualifying places with two events to go, before a runner-up finish on home soil at the Danish Golf Championship and a tie for 13th at The Belfry sealed a rookie appearance at Bethpage.
Not a stranger to team competition, Rasmus played in the European Junior Ryder Cup side in 2018, and was part of the Team Cup earlier this year. He and Nicolai also won the Eisenhower Trophy together as amateurs in 2016.
And the last time Europe had just one rookie on their team? 2012.
Scandinavian Record Setters
ROME, ITALY – OCTOBER 01: Viktor Hovland of Team Europe celebrates victory following the Sunday singles matches of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on October 01, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)The Scandinavian duo of Hovland and Ludvig Åberg created a record-breaking partnership in 2023, with a dominating 9&7 victory over the American duo of Brooks Koepka and Scottie Scheffler in Saturday morning foursomes at Marco Simone. It marked the largest margin of victory for an 18-hole match, foursomes or otherwise, in the history of the Ryder Cup.
The victory came after they earnt their first foursomes point against Brian Harman and Max Homa 4&3 on Friday morning, going 2-0-0 in foursomes with one of the most memorable victories in recent history. The duo did lose their Saturday afternoon fourball match 4&3 against Collin Morikawa and Sam Burns, recording an overall partnership record of 2-1-0.
Success in 2023
ROME, ITALY – OCTOBER 01: (L-R Back Row) Ludvig Åberg, Robert MacIntyre, Jon Rahm, Captain Luke Donald, Shane Lowry, Nicolai Højgaard, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland (L-R Front Row) Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, and Tommy Fleetwood of Team Europe pose after winning The Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club on Sunday, October 1, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Darren Carroll/PGA of America)The team that lifted the Ryder Cup in 2023 will have plenty of good memories to lean on, and a near identical team to do it with. They achieved European Ryder Cup history with a clean-sweep of the first foursomes session, going on to lead the first day by a European record margin of 6½ -1½, the same scoreline achieved in 2004.
For the more senior members, it was an incredibly successful outing – with an undefeated JonRahm and winning records for McIlroy, Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Hovland. Robert MacIntyre was the most successful rookie of that Ryder Cup, with a 2-0-1 record.
Rory’s career year
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 13: Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland poses with the Masters trophy during the Green Jacket Ceremony after winning the 2025 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 13, 2025 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)McIlroy has said that an away victory at this year’s Ryder Cup could help define the 2025 season as one, if not the best, of his career. The Northern Irishman joined the incredibly exclusive Grand Slam club earlier this year with a first Major victory in almost 11 years at the Masters Tournament in April, becoming just the sixth player in history to achieve the feat. Add in further wins this year at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, PLAYERS Championship and Amgen Irish Open in front of home fans, it’s been his most successful year in terms of titles in the span of his career.
“The one thing for me this year to reassess my goals, an away Ryder Cup, after everything that’s happened this year, would be… if I did have a better year in the game, I’d love to see it,” he said.
“If we were to win an away Ryder Cup with everything else that I’ve been through this year, 2025 would be the best year of my career.”
He will now relish the role of being Europe’s talisman, having missed just one session at the Ryder Cup since he made his debut 15 years ago. With a career record of 16-9-4 from seven appearances, McIlroy has been on five winning Ryder Cup sides, including Europe’s last away victory at Medinah.
Bethpage Black Experience
Ryder Cup Hole by holeIn 2019, Bethpage Black was the stage for the US PGA Championship. It was an event defined by both tough scoring, with notable mentions about how difficult a New York crowd might be for a European Team when the Ryder Cup arrives this year. But what Team Europe does have in its favour, is experience of this venue.
More than half of the team were present for that Major Championship six years ago. McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Hatton, Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick and Rahm were all part of the field, with six making the cut and both McIlroy and Lowry posting top tens. Also in the field were Donald’s Vice Captains Francesco Molinari (T48) and Noren (T54).
Five of the current U.S. Ryder Cup team were in the field six years ago too, with Patrick Cantlay the best of the lot finishing tied third.