There’s still a lot of golf to be played between now and September, including the highly anticipated Open Championship. However, no fan has stopped keeping an eye on the upcoming Ryder Cup, especially now that the teams are starting to take shape.
The American team recently announced that Scottie Scheffler is the first player confirmed for Bethpage Black. It didn’t take long for the Europeans to confirm Rory McIlroy as their first lock.
Another Ryder Cup veteran and fan favorite, Justin Rose, shared his excitement on his X account, which is followed by more than 913,000 users.
“Strong first player in team,” he posted.
After finishing in the top 20 in the U.S. Open, McIlroy reached 3,040.95 points in the internal European Ryder Cup team ranking, securing his spot on the roster as the first of the six direct qualifiers.
His three PGA Tour victories this season, including the Masters Tournament, naturally played a significant role in this result.
The Northern Irishman also reacted on X to his official inclusion in the team:
McIlroy has played in seven Ryder Cups, winning five. He has contributed 18 career points, and his best performance was in 2023 when he earned four points in five matches.
At the beginning of the current season, the five-time major winner stated that winning the Ryder Cup again on American soil is among his goals for the remainder of his professional career:
“Winning The Masters, winning an Olympic medal and another away Ryder Cup, they are my three goals for the rest of my career,” he said last January.
Only one of their five victories has come in the Americas. It was the famous 2012 edition, known as the “Miracle at Medinah,” in which the Europeans trailed by four points (10-6) heading into the singles matches, but won 8.5 points on the final day to turn the score around and take the title.
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Rankings for the European Ryder Cup team
Justin Rose is one of the European players with a strong chance of competing at Bethpage Black in September. Currently ninth in the rankings, the Englishman is a strong candidate to be one of captain Luke Donald’s six free picks.
Below are the top 12 rankings as of June 17:
- 1 Rory McIlroy
- 2 Tyrrell Hatton
- 3 Shane Lowry
- 4 Robert MacIntyre
- 5 Sepp Straka
- 6 Rasmus Højgaard
- 7 Tommy Fleetwood
- 8 Ludvig Åberg
- 9 Justin Rose
- 10 Viktor Hovland
- 11 Thomas Detry
- 12 Matt Wallace
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