Weekly Fantasy Golf Recap: Europe Claims the Cup

The final score of the 45th Ryder Cup was 15-13, with Europe defeating the United States. 

Unlike objects that are closer than they appear in your side-view mirror, this competition was not that close, despite the score.

It was a historic beatdown for two days, and that's really where the Cup was decided.

The Americans' Sunday comeback from an embarrassing 11.5-4.5 deficit certainly was drama-filled. But it can be chalked up to the fact that the Euros didn't come out with the same first on Sunday, for the very reason that their lead was so enormous and it was a natural reaction to exhale.

Europe has now won 11 of the past 14 Ryder Cups but won on the road for the first time since 2012's Miracle at Medinah -- when one team was actually able to complete a Sunday comeback. Of course, the Euros were down only four points then.

Luke Donald might now go down as the greatest European Ryder Cup captain of all time, and surely will be asked back. Whether he accepts, who knows? Keegan Bradley was clearly overmatched and made some serious errors, but the Sunday comeback and his players' unwavering support suggest he could be asked to return in two years in Ireland.

If it's not Bradley, where would the Americans' turn for a captain looking for a road win for the first time since 1993 at the Belfry? It's hard to imagine Tiger Woods accepting the assignment, when victory would be so hard to accomplish and his Ryder Cup playing record already abysmal.

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Anyway, there's no need for us to rehash so much of what you saw and heard on TV -- the Americans getting compensated, the vulgar fans and all that.

Let's get into a review of all 24 players.

TEAM EUROPE

Tommy Fleetwood - 4 points
Fleetwood's 2025 would've been viewed as a success with his first PGA win and top-5s in all three playoff events. But he added to his most successful season in golf by continuing his Ryder Cup greatness. He was the top point earner in the Cup. winning four points by going 2-0 in both foursomes and fourball. As such, he was the recipient of the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award, named for Jack Nicklaus and former European captain Tony Jacklin. Fleetwood's season is not done, as it isn't for many Europeans, who still have the conclusion of the DP World Tour's Race to Dubai ahead. It's certainly possible that this 2025 success will open the doors to even greater success for Fleetwood the rest of 2025 and into 2026.

Rory McIlroy - 3.5 points
McIlroy won three matches and halved another before losing to Scottie Scheffler in Sunday singles, 1 up. Winning the Ryder Cup on the road had been McIlroy's mission for two years and accomplishing the feat extended the greatest season of his career and arguably one of the greatest ever in golf: Wins at Pebble Beach, THE PLAYERS, the Masters, the Irish Open (his national championship) and completing the career grand slam are remarkable collective achievements. Like Fleetwood, McIlroy isn't done with 2025, as he'll be gunning for another Race to Dubai title.

Tyrrell Hatton - 3.5 points
Hatton and Jon Rahm proved to be a formidable foursomes pair, crushing Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas, 4 & 3, in the first match of the Ryder Cup on Friday morning. Maybe the Cup was decided right there. Hatton was supposed to take Saturday afternoon off, but when Viktor Hovland was injured, the Englishman stepped in alongside Matt Fitzpatrick to take down Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay in fourball, 1 up. It was a great Ryder Cup for the LIV golfer and he should be back in two years.

Jon Rahm - 3 points
Rahm showed more fight in the majors this year and then even more at Bethpage Black. He not only won twice in foursomes with Hatton, he team with Sepp Straka for a fourball win. Rahm will eventually take over the mantle as team leader from McIlroy, but not for a few more Cups.

Matt Fitzpatrick - 2.5 points
Fitzpatrick had had a disastrous Ryder Cup record coming in. He acquitted himself nicely with 2.5 points. It really should've been three, but he blew a huge lead in singles against DeChambeau and ended up halving the match. Fitzpatrick is now 0-3-1 lifetime in Ryder Cup singles.

Ludvig Aberg - 2 points
Aberg remarkably was the lone Euro to win his singles match, taking down Cantlay, 2 & 1. And how important that was in the scheme of things? Aberg had one other bright spot, and it came on Friday morning when he teamed with Fitzpatrick to defeat Scheffler and Russell Henley.

Justin Rose - 2 points
This was the 45-year-old Rose's seventh and presumably final Ryder Cup – though we surely said the same thing two years ago. So who knows, back at 47? Next captain? For now, Rose is still playing elite level golf. He teamed twice with Fleetwood in fourball to beat DeChambeau (once with Ben Griffin but the other time with Scheffler).

Shane Lowry - 2 points
Who knows where the 38-year-old Lowry will be in two years, when the Cup will be played in his native Ireland. His game has slipped somewhat. But for now, he will bask in the glory of securing the winning point for Europe by halving his match with Henley thanks to a birdie on 18.

Robert MacIntyre - 1.5 points
MacIntyre was not at his best. He teamed with Hovland twice in foursomes and they went 1-1. He halved his singles match when Burns missed a putt on 18 for an outright win.

Viktor Hovland - 1.5 points
Hovland was at the center of the biggest controversy of the Cup. He injured his neck and was deemed unfit to play his singles match on Sunday. That forced Bradley to sit one player (Harris English) in a match that was halved without being played.  The injury didn't appear to be too serious, but we'll see how much Hovland plays the rest of 2025.

Sepp Straka - 1 point
Straka got one point paired with Rahm but otherwise was a non-factor. He could be a casualty in two years in Ireland. He has yet to bring all that much to the table in two Cups.

Rasmus Hojgaard - 0 points
The only rookie for the Euros and the only player on either side to not win at least a half-point. Hojgaard fell to Griffin in singles. He auto-qualified, so Donald's hands were tied.

U.S. TEAM

Cameron Young - 3 points
Young not only was a force on the course, as a New Yorker was a fan favorite. One of the biggest criticisms of Bradley was sitting Young in the first session on Friday. After that, he played the remaining four sessions, winning three times. Young was given the all-important first match out on Sunday and set the tone for the Americans with a big win over Rose. 

Xander Schauffele - 3 points
Schauffele's magical pairing with Cantlay won only once. But he also won alongside J.J. Spaun and then took down Rahm rather handily in singles, 4 & 3. It's been a lost year for Schauffele after missing two months at the start with a side injury. This salvaged it a little bit for him. He was one of only two Americans to skip the Procore (because of the birth of his child) yet he was not rusty at all.

Justin Thomas - 2 points
It's hard for the Americans to win a Ryder Cup with only two points from Thomas. Alongside DeChambeau, he lost the all-important opening match of the Cup, to Rahm and Hovland. You could say the competition was decided on Friday morning. Nonetheless, Thomas is still young enough to make multiple more Ryder Cup teams and, with his exuberance, will repeatedly be a captain's pick if he doesn't auto-qualify.

J.J. Spaun – 2 points
The mild-mannered Spaun proved a revelation with his fierceness on the course. He split his two matches on Friday and Saturday, losing with Scheffler and winning with Schauffele. He won his singles match, but he did not draw a tough assignment in Straka.

Patrick Cantlay - 1.5 points
Cantlay was one of three Americans to play all five sessions and, as you can see by the point total, it didn't go great. He was the lone American to lose in singles, to Aberg, and if that were reversed, the final score would've stood at 14-14. Europe would've retained the Cup, but the aftermath of the 2025 Ryder Cup would've been viewed quite differently.

Bryson DeChambeau - 1.5 points
Not only did DeChambeau fall flat with only 1.5 points in five matches, his caddie got into it with Rose on the green on Saturday. Just a disastrous Cup for someone who was supposed to bring fire to the U.S. team He brought fire. Just not enough points. Is he worth all the baggage he brings?

Scottie Scheffler - 1 point
Well, this is now three poor Ryder Cup showings in a row for the world No. 1. He came close to losing all five matches until edging McIlroy in singles. Like Tiger before him, Scheffler's great skills are proving difficult to pair with. He will be on many more Ryder Cup teams, so it behooves all involved to figure this out.

Sam Burns - 1 point
Burns was largely a non-factor yet again in the Cup. He let MacIntyre snatch a half-point in singles when the U.S. had no margin for error.

Ben Griffin - 1 point
Griffin was brutal in Friday afternoon fourball alongside DeChambeau, to the point where we didn't see him again till Sunday. Yes, he beat Hojgaard in singles, but that was hardly a heavy lift.

Russell Henley - 0.5 points
Henley, if you haven't noticed, has moved up to No. 3 in the world. He lost twice playing with Scheffler, then saw Lowry win 18 against him to halve the match and win the Cup. If Henley continues to be this highly ranked, he will make more teams. But he surely did not seem ready in his first Ryder Cup.

Collin Morikawa - 0.5 points
Morikawa teamed with English in the worst pairing of the Cup, a complete whiff by Bradley. The website Data Golf deemed Morikawa-English as the worst possible foursomes combo for the U.S, After they got beat badly on Friday, Bradley trotted them out again on Saturday to a similar disastrous result. Morikawa just can't putt, and hindsight suggests he maybe should not have been a captain's pick. Foresight, too.

Harris English - 0.5 points
Not only was English paired with Morikawa (see above), he was the unlucky American who had to sit when Hovland withdrew with an injury. This was not English's first Ryder Cup, but it likely will be his last.

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