The 43rd edition of the Ryder Cup edges ever closer and the excitment is building. Last night I had a look at the ins and outs of the tournament, now it's time to introduce the teams.
So let’s move on and meet the two captains charged with leading their team to victory at Whistling Straits.
Team Europe Captain – Padraig Harrington
Age: 50. Born: Dublin, Ireland
Harrington is a three time major winner. Although mainly private and can come across as shy at times, don’t expect Padraig to mix his words, he will stick up for his team at all costs and will be a fantastic leader and role model.
With four Ryder Cup team appearances between 1999-2010, picking up ten and a half points in the process, Harrington knows what it takes to conquer the Americans and he will do everything in his power to do just that and bring the Ryder Cup Trophy back home on the return flight.
Team USA Captain – Steve Stricker
Age: 54. Born: Edgerton, Wisconsin
Stricker is a local hero around these parts and will be using the home crowd 13th Man to his advantage for sure.
Stricker is another Ryder Cup veteran having played at three events so he also knows what it takes to win this competition. S
tricker most certainly has the strongest team at his disposal consisting of the world's top ranked golfers and multiple major champions however he has more of a job in hand if you ask me with so much unrest within his camp. The ongoing Brooksy, DeChambeau saga can’t be helping team bonding, it’s going to be interesting to see if he pairs them up although I’d say this is highly unlikely.
Now that we’ve introduced the captains, let’s meet the players.
Team Europe
Paul Casey
Age: 44. Born: Cheltenham, England
Casey has one of the most impressive Ryder Cup records. He has represented Europe at the Ryder Cup in 2004, 2006, 2008 & 2018 and is undefeated in nine of his twelve matches.
Matt Fitzpatrick
Age: 27. Born: Sheffield, England
Fitzpatrick will be making his second Ryder cup appearance after playing at Hazeltine as a debutant in 2016.
Tommy Fleetwood
Age: 30. Born: Southport, England
Fleetwood was at Le Golf National, Paris in 2018 where he won all four matches with his team mate Molinari and will be making his second appearance.
Sergio Garcia
Age: 41. Born: Borriol, Spain
Sergio is the all time European leading Ryder Cup points scorer and his experience and expertise could prove pivotal.
Tyrell Hatton
Age: 29. Born: High Wycombe, England
Hatton was a rookie at Le Golf National and comes here with four victories on both the European and PGA Tours since then.
Viktor Hovland
Age: 24. Born: Oslo, Norway
The talented Hovland could be the one the Americans fear most. He comes here as a Ryder Cup rookie but is in the form of his young life becoming the first Norwegian to win on both the European and PGA stage.
Shane Lowry
Age: 34. Born: Clara, Ireland
The Ryder cup rookie won the Open Championship in 2019 to claim his first major and this Whistling Straits lay out will suit the Irishman’s game.
Rory McIlroy
Age: 32. Born: Holywood, Northern Ireland
The one and only Rory, will be looking for his fourth Ryder Cup victory and bounced back on the scene with a much needed victory at the Wells Fargo on the PGA tour earlier this year.
Ian Poulter
Age: 45. Born: Hitchin, England
Nicknamed the Postman simply because he always delivers at the Ryder Cup. This will be his seventh appearance.
John Rahm
Age: 26. Born: Barrika, Spain
Major champion and world No1, Rahm is making his second Ryder Cup appearance and could be Europe’s main man to get those points on the board.
Lee Westwood
Age: 48. Born: Worksop, England
Westwood has featured at ten consecutive Ryder Cups and has won seven, his experience will be essential.
Bernd Wiesberger
Age: 35. Born: Vienna, Austria
The Austrian is making his first appearance in the Ryder Cup team and finished 3rd in the Race to Dubai last year.
Team USA
Daniel Berger
Age: 28. Born: Plantation, Florida
Berger is making his first appearance at the Ryder Cup.
Patrick Cantlay
Age: 29. Born: Long Beach, California
Cantlay is another rookie but has played in the President's Cup team and just recently won the Fed Ex Cup.
Bryson De Chambeau
Age: 28. Born: California
Known as the hulk of golf, De Chambeau will be aiming to eat up this course for breakfast. He makes his second appearance but his main danger this week will be Brooks Koepka and his army of fans.
Harris English
Age: 32. Born: Georgia
English is another Ryder Cup rookie but has had a good year on the PGA tour winning the Travellers Championship.
Tony Finau
Age: 32. Born: Salt Lake City
Finau is simply a model of consistency and will be playing in his second Ryder Cup.
Dustin Johnson
Age: 37. Born: South Carolina
The humble giant will be making his fifth appearance and comes here as World No.2 and a two-time major champion.
Brooks Koepka
Age: 31. Born: West Palm Beach, Florida
Koepka returns for his third straight Ryder Cup and is one of golf's greatest competitors, always showing up at the big events, that’s why he’s a four time major champion.
Collin Morikawa
Age: 24. Born: Los Angeles
Morikawa has already bagged two majors in the last year and will be looking forward to his first Ryder Cup.
Xander Schauffele
Age: 27. Born: San Diego
Schauffele represents his country for the first time and comes here after recently winning the gold medal at the Olympics in Japan.
Scottie Scheffler
Age: 25. Born: Dallas, Texas
Yet another rookie on the American team, Scheffler comes here in fine fettle.
Jordan Spieth
Age: 28. Born: Dallas, Texas
It’s hard to imagine he’s only 28 yrs old, probably fortunate the tournament was delayed a year but this is his fourth consecutive appearance for the multi major champion.
Justin Thomas
Age: 28. Born: Kentucky
Thomas makes his second appearance and JT always shows up at these big events.
