Ryder Cup 2021: Team USA and Team Europe rosters for Whistling Straits

Looking at the 2021 Ryder Cup rosters for Team USA and Team Europe as it’s a true battle of new blood and old blood for the two competing sides.

Whistling Straits is buzzing with anticipation for the much-awaited return of the Ryder Cup. The Wisconsin course will host the always-heated matchup between the United States and Europe as they battle for continental supremacy on the golf course.

Team Europe, though rarely the favorites to win, has dominated the Ryder Cup in recent years. They won in Paris in 2018 while Team USA won at Hazeltine in 2016. However, the Europeans have now won four of the last five competitions in addition to seven of the last nine. That’s a trend U.S. captain Steve Stricker is looking to buck as they want to protect a “home-field” advantage.

Who are the players who will represent Team USA and Team Europe at the 2021 Ryder Cup? We have a rundown of the rosters with a brief look at how each team is made up.

Note: A * denotes a Ryder Cup rookie making his first appearance.

United States Ryder Cup roster

• Collin Morikawa*
• Dustin Johnson
• Bryson DeChambeau
• Brooks Koepka
• Justin Thomas
• Patrick Cantlay*
• Tony Finau (Captain’s Pick)
• Xander Schauffele* (Captain’s Pick)
• Jordan Spieth (Captain’s Pick)
• Harris English* (Captain’s Pick)
• Daniel Berger* (Captain’s Pick)
• Scottie Scheffler* (Captain’s Pick)
• Captain: Steve Stricker
• Vice Captains: Phil Mickelson, Fred Couples, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, Davis Love III

Six of the 12 members of the United States Ryder Cup team are rookies for the competition, which delivers some mixed feelings. On one hand, experience is definitely in favor of Europe, something that certainly does matter. But at the same time, one of the criticisms of the U.S. has not been capitalizing enough on the young talent available, which is not the case with Stricker’s group.

From a talent and performance perspective, it’s no wonder that Team USA is favored to win as they have nine of the 10 highest-ranked golfers in the Official World Golf Rankings who are playing in the Ryder Cup. But again, the U.S. has often had the talent advantage. Now it’s about capitalizing on that talent.

Europe Ryder Cup roster

• Jon Rahm
• Rory McIlroy
• Paul Casey
• Matt Fitzpatrick
• Viktor Hovland*
• Tyrell Hatton
• Lee Westwood
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Bernd Wiesberger*
• Sergio Garcia (Captain’s Pick)
• Ian Poulter (Captain’s Pick)
• Shane Lowry* (Captain’s Pick)
• Captain: Padraig Harrington
• Vice Captains: Luke Donald, Robert Karlsson, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Henrik Stenson

Just a hilarious stat to kick things off for the European side, Lee Westwood and Sergio Garcia have more combined Ryder Cup appearances than Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Tony Finau do combined.

That highlights the vast experience advantage for the Europeans, which doesn’t even really include Jon Rahm, the No. 1-ranked player in the world who’s playing in this competition for just the second time in his young career. This is also a team with guys who have been absolute studs in this format, most notably with Ian Poulter just owning the United States in Sunday singles matches.

There is some relatively new blood with the likes of the ultra-talented Viktor Hovland and 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry joining the team. But Europe will once again rely on their team-building, matchmaking, and, perhaps, mental edge to get past a more talented U.S. group.