Ryder Cup 2025? Who will win at Bethpage Black?

The 45th Ryder Cup will get underway on Friday as United States and Europe do battle at the fearsome Bethpage Black course on the outskirts of New York.

Europe are looking to defend the trophy that they lifted back in 2023, but history is not in their favour with no away team winning this event since they did so in 2012, pulling off what will forever be known as the 'Miracle of Medinah'.

The fact that such a tag has been placed on that triumph emphasises the difficulty of a visiting team winning on away territory, yet there is a feeling that this will be a battle between two well-matched teams spearheaded by Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald.

Here, Sports Mole takes a look at the pros and cons of both teams, weighing up who has the best chance of adding their names to the history books come Sunday night.

United States

The build-up from a United States perspective was dominated by the topic of whether Bradley would become the first playing captain since the 1960s, an option that he ultimately turned down.

Bradley finished in 11th spot in the Points List, and by some margin too, to highlight that his self-selection would have been justified, but his captain's picks went as far down as 16th.

© Imago

Sam Burns effectively took the last spot, a consequence of coming into form during the Fedex Cup playoffs with a seventh and a fourth place, and it is clear that the United States have strength-in-depth.

That is despite four of their team - J. J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Ben Griffin and Cameron Young - being Ryder Cup rookies, as well as Burns and Harris English having just one previous event on their record.

Nevertheless, that lack of experience can perhaps be ignored when every player in the American team is placed in the top 23 of the World Golf Rankings.

Then, of course, there is Scottie Scheffler, the world number one who has enjoyed an incredible 2025 and has the motivation to improve on a 2-2-3 Ryder Cup record, a rare blot on his illustrious copybook.

Europe

While the USA have world-class talent over Ryder Cup experience as their go-to, Europe have opted for familiarity with 11 of this team having contributed to the 2023 triumph.

Rasmus Hojgaard is the only rookie, replacing his twin brother Nicolai, but the Dane was present in Rome to soak up the occasion ahead of a possible bow at Bethpage Black.

© Imago

Donald had the luxury of being justified in selecting a host of experienced names courtesy of their respective performances. Aside from LIV player Jon Rahm, each of the other European representatives finished in the top 11 of the points list.

Matthew Fitzpatrick made an incredible late burst up the standings with seven top-10 finishes in nine events, and being a major winner on American soil means that he only adds class to this team even if he possesses what can only be described as an abysmal Ryder Cup record of one win and seven defeats.

There will be a significant reliance on the brilliance of Rory McIlroy, yet it will need to be a team effort to register a rare success for the away team.

McIlroy has won just half - 16 of 33 - of his Ryder Cup matches - and there are seven players in total who possesses a points percentage of 54.55% or fewer from their respective matches. 

Who will win Ryder Cup?

United States justifiably go off as favourites and it is easy to understand why when Europe lost 19-9 on their last trip across the pond and have not racked up more than 11.5 points on three of their most recent four away events.

Furthermore, in the five PGA Tour or majors that have been held at Bethpage Black, an American has won on every occasion.

None of those take their place in this team, and European pair McIlroy and Shane Lowry can count top-10 finishes at the 2019 PGA Championship at this course, but there is more stacked against Europe this time around despite the obvious unity within Donald's ranks.

Therefore, we are backing USA to edge the majority of the fourballs and foursomes, and that will likely leave Europe with too much to do during Sunday's singles.