Ryder Cup Rankings for Team USA and Team Europe Entering the Open Championship
After a big 19-9 win by the United States in the 2021 Ryder Cup, the storied event heads to Italy in 2023 for a home game for the European team.
Europe has held serve at their home event in six straight Ryder Cups, so the United States team will need to buck a trend in order to pick up a win at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.
Interestingly enough, the Ryder Cup betting odds entering the Open Championship do expect the United States to right the ship.
- Team USA to win: -185
- Team Europe to win: +200
- Tie: +1300
Team USA Ryder Cup Rankings
The overall strength of the USA side is a big reason why they are favored.
Here is how Team USA's Ryder Cup rankings look before the year's final major.
Rank | Golfer | Points | OWGR | Currently Qualified? |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Scottie Scheffler | 25,559.49 | 1 | Yes |
2 | Wyndham Clark | 13,239.95 | 10 | Yes |
3 | Brooks Koepka | 9,362.61 | 12 | Yes |
4 | Xander Schauffele | 8,390.13 | 6 | Yes |
5 | Patrick Cantlay | 8,328.58 | 4 | Yes |
6 | Max Homa | 7,801.88 | 8 | Yes |
7 | Keegan Bradley | 7,422.34 | 15 | No |
The top six -- currently Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brooks Koepka, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, and Max Homa -- would be guaranteed a spot if the points period ended today. (It ends after the BMW Championship on August 20th.)
Six more players are chosen by team captain Zach Johnson as captain's selections.
Based on the Official World Golf Ranking system, the USA's top-12 by the current points system ranks, on average 11.9, in the world.
Seven of the top 12 golfers by the OWGR are inside the top 10 of the USA Ryder Cup rankings.
Team Europe Ryder Cup Rankings
The top of Team Europe can hang with the best that the US can offer, but the depth is a concern.
Here is how Team Europe's Ryder Cup rankings look before the year's final major.
Golfer | European Rank | World Rank | Currently Qualified? | Average Rank | OWGR Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rory McIlroy | 1 | 2 | Yes | 1.5 | 2 |
Jon Rahm | 2 | 1 | Yes | 1.5 | 3 |
Robert Macintyre | 3 | 10 | Yes | 6.5 | 54 |
Tyrrell Hatton | 13 | 4 | Yes | 8.5 | 13 |
Viktor Hovland | 17 | 3 | Yes | 10 | 5 |
Matt Fitzpatrick | 28 | 5 | Yes | 16.5 | 9 |
Tommy Fleetwood | 8 | 6 | No | 7 | 21 |
Team Europe's ranking system is a bit different and more complex to display. Their six automatic qualifiers are made up of the three players atop the European points list and then the three players atop the World points list after that.
Currently, those are Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Robert Macintyre (top three in European points) followed by Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, and Matt Fitzpatrick (who are ranked 3rd, 4th, and 5th in the World rankings behind McIlroy and Rahm).
That's a strong core, and those names have an average rank of 14.3 by the OWGR (and 6.4 if you exclude Macintyre's rank of 54th).
Their captain, Luke Donald, would then select six captain's picks to fill out the roster.
This is noteworthy because it marks a change that gives the European team six captain's picks rather than three, which gives them more flexibility to handpick players rather than be tied to the rankings.
But depth is the main concern for Team Europe.
They have 4 golfers in the top 10 of the OWGR, 6 in the top 25, 9 in the top 35, and 11 in the top 50. Team USA has 16 options in the top 25 alone.
Ryder Cup Preview
This year, perhaps more than any in recent history, the Ryder Cup is going to be in the spotlight -- and the selection process scrutinized.
The course (Marco Simone) can definitely skew in the favor of the European team depending on setup, but the overall talent discrepancy is why Team USA is favored to get its first win on European soil since 1993.
Can Europe bounce back after a lopsided loss at Whistling Straits? Will Team USA finally figure it out away from home? Will the captain's picks skew toward youth and the future -- or experience?
Either way, the 2023 Ryder Cup should be a special one.
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