2025 Ryder Cup primer as countdown underway to Bethpage Black

With the countdown officially on until the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park – and the Year to Go event Tuesday in New York City – it’s time to reset and see how things stand.

Here’s a primer to get you caught up on the 2025 cup, which is scheduled for Sept. 26-28:

Who are the captains?

For the reigning champions, Luke Donald is running it back for another year for the Europeans. In Rome, players and assistant captains lauded the tidy Englishman for his preparedness, in-game strategy and motivational tactics. It only made sense to give Donald another turn after the five-point win last fall.

The Americans went an entirely different direction: Criticized for being too insular with Team USA’s back-room staff, the PGA of America tabbed Keegan Bradley, the 38-year-old firecracker who was snubbed for the 2023 team and hasn’t been a part of the Ryder Cup since 2014. It marked a distinct shift in captaincy strategy, plucking a modern player who is still among the best in the world. Bradley was supposed to get his first taste of team leadership after being named an assistant captain for last month’s Presidents Cup, but he played his way into a wildcard pick and went 2-1 in Montreal.

Wait, couldn’t Bradley possibly be a playing captain?

It’s not inconceivable.

After his win at the BMW Championship, Bradley is all the way up to 14^th in the world ranking – the eighth-highest-ranked American. Bradley will be 39 next year, making him the youngest U.S. captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963, who was 34 when he served as a playing captain.

The Ryder Cup has changed in innumerable ways in the six decades since, and Bradley himself, after playing in the Presidents Cup, expressed doubt that he’d be able to handle both roles next summer.

“I don’t know how that would ever be possible,” Bradley said, “but I’m going to push that down the road. If I make the team on points, I’ll consider playing, but outside of that, I won’t do that because this is really important to me next year. I don’t care about my personal gains of playing in the tournament; I only care about winning the Ryder Cup. I think the best way to do that is to let these boys play and let them do what they do. We’ll see. I don’t see it happening, but we’ll see.”

What’s the qualification process like?

U.S. players have been accruing points this year but based on their performances in only five events — the majors and The Players. The standings will fluctuate much more next year. The team has not yet announced the counting events and values for earning points next year, but they’re usually skewed heavily toward the biggest events. A cutoff date for the top six qualification spots will also likely be at some point during the FedExCup playoffs, with Bradley naming his captain’s picks shortly after that.

In a departure from past years, Europe is using only one Ryder Cup points list as opposed to drawing from two separate standings. Just like last year, Donald will have six captain’s picks at the end of the qualification process.

Can LIV players compete at Bethpage?

Though any sort of merger remains a work in progress, the respective Ryder Cup teams have made moves to ensure that the best players, regardless of tour affiliation, will be able to play in the event.

The PGA of America recently announced that LIV players will be eligible for the Ryder Cup after changing its bylaws and adding LIV Golf to its list of approved tours. Brooks Koepka was picked for the 2023 team but that was only because LIV players had been granted a grace period after their PGA membership had lapsed.

Eligibility has also been a major talking point for the European team, with the main requirement being that players must play at least four events on the DP World Tour to be eligible. LIV players Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton are among those who have appealed the sanctions the tour has imposed on them for competing in LIV events without requesting permission from the European circuit. That loophole has allowed them to fulfill their four-event minimum and remain eligible next year, assuming they eventually pay the associated fines.

(Side note: After sustaining a late-season injury, Viktor Hovland will not play four DP World Tour events this year, but the tour has already granted him a medical extension to keep him available.)

So, if the Ryder Cup was contested this week, who would be in line to play?

The six Americans who would automatically qualify: Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, Collin Morikawa, Brian Harman and Billy Horschel.

Those ranked Nos. 7-12 in the standings: Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Russell Henley, Tony Finau, Sahith Theegala and Max Homa. Of that group, only DeChambeau (who was ineligible to play in the Presidents Cup) and Billy Horschel were not at Royal Montreal for the latest team competition.

As for the Europeans, the qualification process began Aug. 29, so the early qualifiers would be: Rasmus Hojgaard, Rory McIlroy, Matt Wallace, Niklas Norgaard, Hatton and Angel Hidalgo.

Among those, then, who would need a captain’s pick: Hovland, Rahm, Ludvig Åberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Shane Lowry, Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre, Aaron Rai, Matteo Manassero, Alex Noren, Sepp Straka and Thomas Detry.