The 44th biennial Ryder Cup begins this week at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club just outside Rome, Italy. The competition is golf’s premier team event, involving the 12 best players from both the United States and Europe facing off at alternating sites. 

The format will remain as it has since 1979, with each match counting for one point and 28 total points being available over the three-day contest. The contest will begin with four matches of foursomes, an alternate-shot format where two players play the same ball, on Sept. 29 at 1:30 a.m. ET. Four matches of four-ball, in which pairs of teams count the better score between them on each individual hole, will follow in the afternoon. Day two will have an identical format, and the final day will have 12 points up for grabs in singles matches. 

The United States is coming off a record-setting 19-9 win at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, the most lopsided victory in the modern history of the competition. On paper, the United States is the better team. Every one of their players is in the top 25 of the Official World Golf Rankings, compared to just seven for Europe. The U.S. team also includes the last three major championship winners. 

However, the United States may only be slightly favored over the Europeans, as they have infamously not won a Ryder Cup on European soil in 30 years. Despite their drubbing at Whistling Straits, the Europeans have dominated recent Ryder Cups, winning nine of the last 13, including six straight in Europe. 

The poor performance of the United States over the last few decades relative to the high individual skill level of their players has often been ascribed to a lack of team chemistry and leadership. While the Europeans have typically embraced the team aspect of the Ryder Cup, checking their egos at the door, the same can not be said of the Americans.

In an interview in 2016, Phil Mickelson said that he and Tiger Woods were only notified two days prior that they were going to be paired with one another for the opening day matches of the 2004 Ryder Cup. Because foursomes were in the afternoon, the pair had to play one ball. However, Woods used a very high spin ball whereas Mickelson used the complete opposite. 

This dilemma, in addition to Tiger’s rumored lack of respect for Mickelson, meant Mickelson spent four to five hours each of the two days practicing with Woods’ Nike ball in the hopes that he would be somewhat prepared to use it in the tournament. 

“It forced me to stop my preparation for the tournament, to stop chipping and putting and sharpening my game,” Mickelson said. Woods and Mickelson would lose both of their matches, and the United States was trounced 18 ½ to 9 ½.

Mickelson was also outspoken about the lack of team leadership under Captain Tom Watson after the United States fell short at the 2014 Ryder Cup in Scotland. Following the defeat, Phil praised Paul Azinger’s captaincy at the 2008 Ryder Cup where the United States came out victorious, saying in a press conference that everyone on the team was “invested in the process” and that “he had a great game plan for us.” 

Phil was then asked if the team was involved in similar decisions as in 2008, to which he bluntly responded “No, nobody in here was in any decision.” An awkward silence followed, as Mickelson had said all of this with Watson sitting just a few seats away from him. Since the infamous press conference, the United States has turned things around, winning two of the last three competitions. 

However, their European slump has continued, meaning this stacked U.S. roster will have to take on the challenge of ending it. The team’s six automatic qualifiers from the points list are Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele. Captain Zach Johnson used his remaining six spots to pick Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas. 

There was some controversy surrounding the pick of Thomas, as he had fallen to 15th on the points list following poor play throughout the 2023 season, including rounds in the 80s at the British and U.S. Opens. Though Cameron Young and Keegan Bradley had much better resumes on paper, finishing 9th and 11th on the points list respectively, Thomas’ strong past performances in Ryder Cup play were enough for Johnson to pick him.

The European team’s automatic qualifiers are Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre. Captain Luke Donald also selected Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Nicolai Hojgaard and most notably, Ludvig Aberg. Aberg, formerly the number one amateur player in the world, has been playing at the professional level for just three months. 

Yet despite his short time on the biggest stage, he has already made a considerable impression. Since graduating from Texas Tech this past May, consistent performances on the PGA Tour were capped off by an impressive win at the Omega European Masters on the DP World Tour. His performances were clearly enough to convince Donald of his worthiness of a Ryder Cup spot, as Aberg could be the future of the European team at just 23 years of age.