Tiger Woods’ Absence and Role in the 2025 Ryder Cup
Tiger Woods will not play or be involved with Team USA at the 2025 Ryder Cup, due to his ongoing recovery from Achilles tendon surgery.
Keegan Bradley knows the importance of the U.S. getting off to a fast start at the Ryder Cup. All he has to do is look at 2023 when Europe swept the morning session on opening day and never felt threatened the rest of the weekend in Rome.
So Bradley, who replaces Zach Johnson as the U.S. captain, has been working on his best pairings to make sure the U.S. does not fall into a deep hole once again when the Ryder Cup opens Sept. 26 at Bethpage Black in New York with four foursomes (alternate shot) matches.
“I think foursomes is obviously the tougher format to pair because there’s so many more factors,” Bradley said. “There’s the golf ball. You really want to match up the personalities with foursomes because it is a way tougher format.”
Bradley said he’s “90 percent” sure of his line-up and he has some history (not as much as European captain Luke Donald whose team returns 11 of the 12 players from the victorious side in 2023) to help with those pairings.
The first two days will start with four foursomes matches followed by four fourballs matches. The pairings for the foursomes will be announced the previous night.
Here is what we could see from both the Americans and Europeans.
Possible U.S. pairings for Ryder Cup
Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley
Scheffler, the world No. 1, and Henley were paired three times at the 2024 Presidents Cup, going 2-1. The best player in the world has to play at least four times, if not all five matches, and this could be how he starts. Scheffler and Sam Burns are close friends (Burns was the best man in Scheffler’s wedding) and the two could be paired in fourballs.
Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay
Bradley likely will lean on familiarity and past success to start the tournament. And although these two friends struggled the last two years, they have had a lot of success playing together. Schauffele and Cantlay were 5-0 in foursomes in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup entering 2023. But since, they are 1-3 in the two events.
Justin Thomas/Ben Griffin
Thomas is going to have to play with someone other than good friend Jordan Spieth, his partner in all five of Thomas’ foursomes Ryder Cup matches. His experience — and Ryder Cup success (7-4-2) — would benefit a rookie like Griffin. Thomas’ strength is his iron game and Griffin is among the better putters on the PGA Tour.
Bryson DeChambeau/J.J. Spaun
DeChambeau’s personality and electric game will make him a fan favorite. This would help take the spotlight off Spaun, who will be playing his first Ryder Cup. DeChambeau can just try to make birdies in fourballs. He hits bombs off the tee and that will be a huge advantage at a long course like Bethpage Black. Spaun is consistent with his approach game.
Collin Morikawa/Harris English
Bradley had these two playing together at the recent Procore Championship. Morikawa is an elite iron player who was third on the PGA Tour in 2025 on strokes gained approach shots. Outside of Burns, English is the best putter on the U.S. team, finishing 13th on Tour in strokes gained putting.
Sam Burns/Scheffler or Cantlay
Scheffler and Burns were paired on Day 1 two years ago and lost in foursomes 4 and 3 to Rahm and Hatton. If Scheffler and Henley get off to a strong start, then Bradley could keep them together and pair Burns with Cantlay. That duo was 2-0 at the Presidents Cup.
Cameron Young/Thomas or DeChambeau
Young is a Ryder Cup rookie. He crushes the ball off the tee and he may be even more amped playing at a course that is 60 miles from where he was born. Thomas could be a calming influence and would complement Young’s game. But a DeChambeau-Young pairing, two long hitters, would further energize the crowd.
Possible European pairings for Ryder Cup
Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood
McIlroy and Fleetwood are undefeated as a Ryder Cup pair, winning both foursomes matches in Rome; defeating Schauffele and Cantlay Day 1, and Thomas and Spieth Day 2. With foursomes in the morning both days, Donald had them go off fourth on Friday and first Saturday.
Jon Rahm/Tyrrell Hatton
Donald can find success everywhere he turns when looking back at Rome, including this pairing. Rahm and Hatton were 2-0 in foursomes, taking down Scheffler and Burns Day 1, and Schauffele and Cantlay Day 2. And now that friendship likely is stronger with both defecting to LIV Golf around the same time.
Viktor Hovland/Ludvig Aberg
These two authored the most stunning match of the Rome Ryder Cup, an historic beatdown of Scheffler and Brooks Koepka in foursomes Day 2. Their 9 and 7 victory was the most lobsided match in Ryder Cup history. The previous day they defeated Max Homa and Brian Harman.
Shane Lowry/Sepp Straka
If Donald goes away from his foursomes pairings from two years ago, it could be splitting up Lowry and Straka. But maybe that will come on Day 2. The Europeans were 7-1 in foursomes, Lowry and Straka with the lone loss, to Homa and Harman on Day 2. They defeated Rickie Fowler and Morikawa on the first day.
Justin Rose/Robert MacIntyre
Rose is one of the best foursomes players in Ryder Cup history (7-2-1), yet in Rome he only played fourballs, pairing with MacIntyre (who was a Ryder Cup rookie), both days. They were 1-0-1, defeating Thomas and Spieth for Europe’s only fourballs win on Day 2.
Matt Fitzpatrick/McIlroy
McIlroy was the only European to play all five matches (4-1-0) two years ago and he could see the same workload. He and Fitzpatrick were paired twice in fourballs, defeating Morikawa and Schauffele and losing to Cantlay and Wyndham Clark.
Rasmus Hojgaard/Rahm
Hojgaard is only rookie and only new face on Team Europe from two years ago. Putting him with one of the veterans in fourballs would make sense. Two years ago, Rahm played with Hojgaard’s twin brother, Nicolai, then a rookie, on the first day in fourballs. They halved with Scheffler and Koepka.
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at [email protected].
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