The 42nd Ryder Cup Matches: Team USA's First 8

The Ryder Cup is not just one of the biggest golf tournaments every two years, it is one of the biggest spectacles in all of sports.  In a sport that is inherently individual, the Ryder Cup forces weekly competitors to come together as a team.  The event also oozes patriotism and pride as American golfers battle against the entire continent of Europe.

The magnitude of the event, now approaching it's 42nd incarnation, deserves more than just a single post.  That is why, in the weeks leading up to the matches, we will be covering the Ryder Cup in a series of posts.  This week, we will look at Team USA and the eight automatic qualifiers.  And with all due respect to Colin Montgomerie who believes that this year's European team is the "best ever,"  it's hard to look at the current USA team and not say the same thing about them.  Since the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National, Team USA has won six of eight major championships.  And with the exception of Rickie Fowler, every player currently on Team USA has won at least one major championship.

So how do The Americans shape up?

The leading point earner should be no surprise:  Brooks Koepka.  With three major championship wins in the last two season, Koepka will enter the matches as the USA's best player.  In 2016, Koepka was 3-1-0 and was a big part of the American's big win in Minnesota.

Dustin Johnson is a Ryder Cup veteran with a record of 6-5-0.  Perhaps it's most surprising in that in 11 matches, Johnson has never halved a match.

Captain America - Patrick Reed - not only boasts an unbelievably impressive 6-1-2 record, but he will also bring a green jacket to Paris this year.



Given his success over the last two years, it's hard to believe that Justin Thomas has never played in a Ryder Cup.  And while Thomas has played in Walker Cups and Presidents Cup, he is the only player in the Top-8 without Ryder Cup experience.

Bubba Watson, who was a late-addition as a vice-captain in 2016, earned his way back onto the Ryder Cup team this year thanks to three wins.  Unfortunately for Watson, his Ryder Cup record is fairly woeful:  3-8-0.

Jordan Spieth is back for his 3rd Ryder Cup.  Spieth has not had the year he expects but he will bring a winning Ryder Cup record of 4-3-2 to Paris.

Rickie Fowler also struggled to capture a win in 2018 despite some good showings in the majors.  Rickie has a Ryder Cup record of 2-4-5.   At just 29 years of age, this will be Fowler’s 4th Ryder Cup.





 Earning the last automatic qualifying spot on the US squad is Webb Simpson.  The Players champion last played in 2014 when he begged to be on Tom Watson’s team.  The results were less than stellar going 0-1-1.  Simpson owns a 2-3-1 career Ryder Cup record.

On paper, this team looks stacked.  And while Simpson and Watson have four wins this year between the two of them in 2018, they are until proven otherwise to be the weak links of the US team.  Bubba’s inability to pull it together in team events is a big concern.  While Watson cannot be hidden during the Sunday singles matches (where he is win less), Watson should probably be kept out of the alternate-shot format where he is 0-2-0.

Captain Jim Furyk will announce three of his four captains picks on September 4 after the second FedEx Cup Playoff event in Boston, MA.  We will have a post to follow but you can bet that Tiger Woods is almost certainly going to be one of the three men selected for the squad.