Ryder Cup 2025: Everything you need to know about Team USA
The Americans enjoyed an excellent two weeks on the links of the UK.
Chris Gotterup was a surprise winner of the Scottish Open and then, in the big one, Scottie Scheffler led an all-American 1-2-3 in the Open Championship.
It suggests Team USA are in a strong position when they host the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York from September 26-28th.
Places on the 12-man team will be hard to come by but how exactly do you get a spot for the biennial showdown against the Europeans?
How is Team USA selected?
The top six in the Ryder Cup standings at the end of the BMW Championship on August 17th, 2025 will gain an automatic spot.
Points have been on offer since the start of 2024. Here is the breakdown:
2024: 1 point per $1,000 earned for all players making the cut at the Players Championship and the four Major Championships: The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and Open Championship.
2025 Regular PGA Tour events: 1 point per $1000 earned for all players making the cut at events from January 1, 2025 through to the conclusion of the BMW Championship, ending August 17th, 2025.
2025 Major Championships (Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and Open Championship): 1.5 points per $1,000 earned for all players making the cut.
The second way to qualify is via a captain’s pick.
US skipper Keegan Bradley has six of these, offering a route in for LIV players such as Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed. LIV golfers don’t earn points on the breakaway tour so can only earn them in majors.
Bradley’s picks will be announced later in August following the Tour Championship which finishes on Sunday 24th.
How do the Team USA standings look after the Open Championship?
It was a big week for some of the Americans and Harris English moved into the sixth and final automatic qualifying spot with his second place to Scheffler at Royal Portrush.
Here are the top six and those bubbling under…
1/ Scottie Scheffler – 32420.33pts
2/ Xander Schauffele – 13383.85pts
3/ J.J. Spaun – 12478.91pts
4/ Russell Henley – 11623.82pts
5/ Bryson DeChambeau – 10774.98pts
6/ Harris English – 10385.65pts
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7/ Justin Thomas – 10208.09pts
8/ Collin Morikawa – 9743.61pts
9/ Ben Griffin – 8604.91pts
10/ Keegan Bradley – 8038.50pts
11/ Maverick McNealy – 7414.15pts
12/ Brian Harman – 7007.99pts
As it stands, only Scheffler has mathematically qualified.
Who is Keegan Bradley likely to give his six wildcard picks to?
Some argue that the next six names on the list (7th to 12th) should get a wildcard.
If that’s the case, it would mean debuts for Ben Griffin and Maverick McNealy.
Bradley, of course, has no end of options and those further down following The Open include Patrick Cantlay (14th in the standings), Sam Burns (15th), Wyndham Clark (16th), Chris Gotterup (22nd), Jordan Spieth (26th), Patrick Reed (37th), Rickie Fowler (42nd) and Brooks Koepka (72nd).
Can Keegan Bradley pick himself?
That question has been asked – and one that Bradley has had to field constantly – virtually throughout the qualification process.
It came into even sharper focus when he won the Travelers Championship in June.
The answer is ‘yes’ although there hasn’t been a playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
That said it’s been seen several times in the Presidents Cup (USA v Internationals), with Tiger Woods taking on both roles in 2019.
The pathway for Bradley has been eased due to a recent rule change, agreed by Luke Donald, that one of Bradley’s assistants could act as a de facto captain if Bradley is playing during a session.
Jim Furyk, who captained Team USA in 2018, is considered the most likely vice-captain to step up.
Read next: Ryder Cup 2025: Everything you need to know about Team Europe