Keegan Bradley

Born: 7 June 1986 (age 39), Woodstock, Vermont
Appearances: 2 - 2012 (L), 2014 (L)
Points won: 4 (4 wins - 3 losses - 0 tie)

“I don’t think I’ll ever be more surprised in my entire life.” That was Keegan Bradley’s reaction in July 2024 when he was announced as the US Ryder Cup captain.

The 39-year-old will be the youngest US skipper since Arnold Palmer in 1963, but unlike Palmer, Bradley will not be a player-captain.

After months of ‘will he, won’t he’ debate, and finishing 11^th in the US qualification standings, Bradley opted not to pick himself in the team.

His love affair with the Ryder Cup began in 1999 when he went to watch what became known as the ‘Battle of Brookline’ and saw Justin Leonard’s winning putt for the US.

As a player, he partnered Phil Mickelson to great effect, twice beating Luke Donald in 2012 – although the current Europe skipper had the last laugh at the ‘Miracle at Medinah’. Bradley was also on the losing team in 2014 at Gleneagles – his defeat by Jamie Donaldson allowed Europe to get over the winning line.

Bradley knows Bethpage Black well. As a college student he and his team-mates were allowed to sneak on and practice when the course was closed. Holes 15-18 were out of bounds to avoid security but curiosity once got the better of them and they were caught.

Scottie Scheffler

Born: 21 June 1996 (age 29), Ridgewood, New Jersey
Appearances: 2 - 2021 (W), 2023 (L)
Points won: 3½ (2-2-3)

World ranking: 1
Career titles: 23

Another stellar year for world number one Scottie Scheffler who continues to be the best player on the planet.

He won his third and fourth majors – the US PGA Championship and The Open – among six PGA Tour victories. Three of those wins came in his past five starts and he's finished in the top-10 in his past 15 events.

From tee-to-green he’s simply the best, but while his putting has massively improved since he started working with English coach Phil Kenyon a couple of years ago, he can still look nervy from inside five feet.

Scheffler was unbeaten as a Ryder Cup rookie in 2021 – forming a strong partnership with Bryson DeChambeau with 1½ points from two matches – but was winless in Rome and in tears after he and Brooks Koepka suffered a record 9&7 defeat by Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland in foursomes.

Both his singles matches have been against Jon Rahm with one win and one tie.

J. J. Spaun

Born: 21 August 1990 (age 35), Los Angeles, California
Appearances: 0
Points won: 0

World ranking: 7
Career titles: 5

One of four rookies on the US team, JJ Spaun has come almost out of nowhere in a sensational 2025.

Holing a 60-foot putt to win the US Open – beating Robert MacIntyre into second – is the undoubted highlight of a year that began with him shooting into the spotlight with a play-off defeat by Rory McIlroy at the prestigious Players Championship in March.

Spaun lost his PGA Tour card in 2020-21 but regained his playing privileges through qualifying and won his first event in 2022 but almost quit after a poor start to 2024. Three top-10s in the second half of the season teed up his super 2025.

Attended San Dimas High School in California, the one made famous by Bill and Ted in the 1989 film 'Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure'.

Xander Schauffele

Born: 25 October 1993 (age 31), San Diego, California
Appearances: 2 - 2021 (W), 2023 (L)
Points won: 4 (4-4-0)

World ranking: 3
Career titles: 12

The Tokyo Olympic champion in 2021 finally claimed his first major championship at the US PGA in 2024 and then followed it with The Open title two months later. Both those wins went a long way to helping Xander Schauffele qualify automatically for the US team.

A rib injury hampered his start to 2025 but he extended his streak of not missing a cut to 71 events (the most by any active player, although only halfway to Tiger Woods’ record of 142)

However, despite three top-12 finishes and a tied 28th in the majors, he failed to qualify for the PGA Tour's season-ending Tour Championship for the first time in nine years.

Schauffele, who became a dad for the first time in the past month, excelled with good friend Patrick Cantlay at Whistling Straits, winning both their foursomes matches, but they were soundly beaten twice in Rome.

Russell Henley

Born: 12 April 1989 (age 36), Macon, Georgia
Appearances: 0
Points won: 0

World ranking: 4
Career titles: 8

A victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March was Russell Henley’s fifth PGA Tour win in 14 years since turning professional.

He’s had 10 top-10 finishes in a solid year, including at the US Open and Open Championship, while a seventh and fifth respectively at those tournaments in 2024 also helped him finish fourth on the US Ryder Cup qualifying list.

He has been in the top-20 in each of his past seven events, including joint second behind Tommy Fleetwood at last month’s Tour Championship in a strong end to the season.

He won two out of three points when partnered with Scottie Scheffler at last year’s President Cup against the International team.

Harris English

Born: 23 July 1989 (age 36), Valdosta, Georgia
Appearances: 1 - 2021 (W)
Points won: 1 (1-2-0)

World ranking: 10
Career titles: 9

Runner-up finishes at both the US PGA and Open Championship followed a fifth career PGA Tour victory at January’s Farmers Insurance Open in a successful year for Harris English who qualified in fifth on the US Ryder Cup points list.

He won one point from three matches on his debut at the 2021 Whistling Straits contest. However, he underwent surgery on a hip injury in early 2022 and was sidelined for four months of the season, eventually missing out on the 2023 Ryder Cup.

English was a University of Georgia team-mate of Russell Henley and also played alongside him at the 2011 Walker Cup.

According to the PGA Tour website, his biggest thrill outside of golf is 'shooting an 11-point buck' - a male deer whose antlers have 11 points.

Bryson DeChambeau

Born: 16 September 1993 (age 32), Modesto, California
Appearances: 2 - 2018 (L), 2021 (W)
Points won: 2½ (2-3-1)

World ranking: 21
Career titles: 14

Bryson DeChambeau is back in the US team after missing out in 2023 following his move to LIV Golf the year before.

He said he could not watch the defeat in Rome after Zach Johnson did not select him as a captain’s pick, despite shooting 61-58 to win his first LIV title six weeks before the contest.

Because LIV golfers are banned from PGA Tour events, DeChambeau had to rely on picking up qualification points in eight majors over two years and winning the US Open in 2024 certainly helped.

While he lost all three of his matches on his debut in Paris, DeChambeau was the star turn at Whistling Straits with his driving power off the tee helping him win 1½ points alongside Scottie Scheffler in the fourballs and beating Sergio Garcia in the singles. His showmanship is likely to further whip up an already expectant crowd at Bethpage.

Justin Thomas

Born: 29 April 1993 (age 32), Louisville, Kentucky
Appearances: 3 - 2018 (L), 2021 (W), 2023 (L)
Points won: 8 (7-4-2)

World ranking: 5
Career titles: 18

With a 100% record in the singles and his recent return to form, it’s easy to see why Justin Thomas was selected as a wildcard pick for the second successive Ryder Cup.

His victory at the RBC Heritage in April was his first since winning his second US PGA Championship title in 2022 and he’s had eight top-10 finishes, including three as runner-up in 2025.

His performances in majors have been patchy though and he has missed the cut in seven of the past 12.

Thomas will need a new partner after Jordan Spieth, with who he has been paired for nine out of his 10 fourball and foursomes matches - winning four, losing four and tieing the other - was left out of the team.

He will bring passion and a desire to stoke up the fans, as evidenced by his beer-swilling antics on the first tee on Saturday lunchtime at Whistling Straits in 2021.

Collin Morikawa

Born: 6 February 1997 (age 28), Los Angeles, California
Appearances: 2 - 2021 (W), 2023 (L)
Points won: 4½ (4-3-1)

World ranking: 8
Career titles: 7

Two PGA Tour runner-up finishes and a tied 10th at the Players Championship in March boosted Collin Morikawa’s hopes of automatic qualification but only one top-10 in his following 14 tournaments left him relying on a captain’s pick.

He finished eighth in the US standings after stumbling through the summer with missed cuts at the Scottish Open and Open Championship, and T22, T33 and T19 in the PGA Tour’s three end of season FedEx play-off tournaments.

Morikawa went unbeaten on his Ryder Cup debut in 2021, with three wins alongside Dustin Johnson and halving his singles match with Viktor Hovland.

But the 2021 Open champion lost three of his four matches in Rome – his only point coming when he and Sam Burns took down Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg in a fourballs match.

Ben Griffin

Born: 6 May 1996 (age 29), Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Appearances: 0
Points won: 0

World ranking: 13
Career titles: 3

A breakout year for Ben Griffin has seen him rewarded with a captain’s pick after finishing ninth in the US qualification standings.

He claimed his first two PGA Tour titles, in April and May, among 11 top-10 finishes, including at the US PGA Championship and US Open. He warmed up for the Ryder Cup by finishing second to Scottie Scheffler at the Procore Championship earlier this month.

Griffin quit the sport in 2021 because the “stress of playing with $15,000 of credit-card debt was agony” but he returned a year later on the Korn Ferry Tour and regained his PGA Tour card for the 2023 season.

He had laser surgery in 2024 to stop him losing his vision and wears huge sunglasses to help him deal with ‘eye floaters’ - spots in his vision which can drift about when you move your eyes.

Cameron Young

Born: 7 May 1997 (age 28), Scarborough, New York
Appearances: 0
Points won: 0

World ranking: 20
Career titles: 5

The fourth and final rookie in the US team was born 60 miles or so from Bethpage Black, where, in 2017, he became the first amateur to win the New York State Open.

He was outside the top 60 in the world rankings midway through 2025, but a strong end to the season, which started with a tied fourth at the US Open in June, followed by his maiden PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship in August catapulted him into Ryder Cup contention.

Young had his best major finish at the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews in 2022, when he eagled the 18th to post a seven-under final round that saw him finish runner-up to Cam Smith.

New York sports fans love one of their own and Young can expect the loudest cheers at the Long Island course.

Patrick Cantlay

Born: 17 March 1992 (age 33), Long Beach, California
Appearances: 2 - 2021 (W), 2023 (L)
Points won: 5½ (5-2-1)

World ranking: 22
Career titles: 9

Patrick Cantlay was “born for the Ryder Cup” and is “a leader” said captain Keegan Bradley when announcing the US team’s grinder as a wildcard pick.

He was certainly centre of attention in Rome, with the intrigue around his decision not to wear a hat - and the subsequent chants from the European fans - and the spat between Rory McIlroy and Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava, who had exuberantly celebrated what turned out to be a match-winning putt by his player.

Cantlay won two points from four matches in Italy, to add to his unbeaten start in Wisconsin in 2021.

His recent form has been inconsistent though. He missed the cut in the last three of the year’s majors to slide out of the top 20 in the world but ended the season on a high with a joint second in the season-ending Tour Championship.

Sam Burns

Born: 23 July 1996 (age 29), Shreeveport, Louisiana
Appearances: 1 - 2023 (L)
Points won: 1 (1-2-0)

World ranking: 23
Career titles: 6

Sam Burns was beaten to the Canadian Open title in a play-off as he endured a second winless season on the PGA Tour.

But five other top-10 finishes, including at the season-ending Tour Championship, persuaded captain Keegan Bradley to select him for a second appearance – he finished 16th in the standings, the lowest of those to make the US team.

In Rome, his only point from three matches was alongside Collin Morikawa in Saturday's foursomes, in a victory over Viktor Hovland Ludvig Aberg.

This year, Burns led the US Open after 54 holes, but in torrential conditions he slumped out of contention with an eight-over 78 in the final round.