Donald's captain's picks are all familiar faces from Europe's winning team in Rome


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The Ryder Cup team for Europe in 2025 will feature 11 of the 12 players that won two years ago in Rome as Luke Donald decided that all of his captain's pick would be returning players. Donald announced those choices Monday with the Europe Ryder Cup team now complete and ready to defend its crown against the United States at Bethpage Black in New York.

Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Åberg and Matt Fitzpatrick all got the call to be captain's picks by Donald, joining the six automatic qualifiers of Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton and Rasmus Højgaard. Højgaard is the only first-timer on the European squad, as he replaces twin brother Nicolai, who participated two years ago.

That continuity and experience is what Europe is banking on as a means of creating an advantage they prepare to head into hostile territory at Bethpage Black, where rowdy American (specifically, Long Island) crowds await them.

While United States captain Keegan Bradley had to stress over whether to pick himself (and if not, who else to bring to Bethpage), there weren't any difficult decisions for Donald. Harry Hall made a late push with strong play to close the season, but he finished 17th on the European points list. Donald was able to just go down the standings from No. 7 to No. 11 with his first five picks, and Rahm is a no-brainer selection down at 24th due to not accruing many points on LIV Golf.

Now that both teams are officially set, we can shift our full focus to the exciting potential matchups at Bethpage at the end of the month in what is one of the most anticipated Ryder Cups in history.

2025 European Ryder Cup team
Captain's pick

Player (Standings) Appearance Ryder Cup record
Rory McIlroy (1) 8 16-3-4

Robert MacIntyre (2) 2 2-0-1

Tommy Fleetwood (3) 4 7-3-2

Justin Rose (4) 7 14-9-3

Tyrrell Hatton (5) 4 5-4-2

Rasmus Højgaard (6) 1 --

Shane Lowry* (7) 3 2-3-1

Sepp Straka* (8) 2 1-2-0

Ludvig Åberg* (9) 2 2-2-0

Viktor Hovland* (10) 3 3-4-3

Matt Fitzpatrick* (11) 4 1-7-0

Jon Rahm* (24) 4 6-3-3

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