USA vs Europe: How do the teams match up?

How do the two Ryder Cup sides match up? 

European Ryder Cup wildcard Paul Casey admitted during his press conference that Europe are wary of their opponents. 

“We’re playing against a brilliant U.S. team and we have massive respect for them,” Casey said. “You know, on paper, they are better than us on paper.”

And he’s not wrong. With more winners this year, lower world rankings, more major champions and more Ryder Cup experience, the U.S team certainly seem to have the upper hand. 

But they also haven’t won on European soil in 25 years, and they are heading to a course where the European team have two championships and 233 career rounds (compared to 8 from the Americans) at Le Golf National, which is as opposite to Hazeltine as could be. Tee shots are tight and short, the rough is penal and there is a lot of water to contend with. 

As Jordan Spieth admitted, there will be a lot of holes potentially won with pars. 

“I don’t think you’ll go anywhere else where you’ll see as many fist-pump pars as you’ll see this week” Spieth said, “especially in the afternoon foursomes when the wind picks up”

Couple that with the impressive win ratios of the European side and the fact that despite less Ryder Cup experience, the players on this European team have won more than the Americans, we’re expecting it to be a close contest.

Here, we break down the differences between the two teams

TEAM USA   TEAM EUROPE
11.1 = Average World Rank   19.1 = Average World Rank
32.1 = Average Age   33.8 = Average Age
31 Majors   8 Majors
9 Major Champions   9 Major Champions
6 Top 10 Players   4 Top 10 players
34 Ryder Cup Appearances   30 Ryder Cup Appearances
67 Ryder Cup Points Won   72.5 Ryder Cup Points Won
19 wins this season   13 wins this season
3 Majors in 2018 (Reed, Koepka)   1 Major in 2018 (Molinari)
8 Career Rounds in Paris   233 Career Rounds in Paris
3 Rookies   5 Rookies

The Players Head to Head: USA vs Europe

TEAM USA     TEAM EUROPE  
Brooks Koepka

> World Ranking: #3
> Appearances: 1
> Points: 3 (3-1-0)
> Wins in ’18: 2
> Career Wins: 11

koepka

 

Paul Casey

> World Ranking: #21
> Appearances: 3
> Points: 5 (3-2-4)
> Wins in ’18: 1
> Career Wins: 18

casey

Dustin Johnson

> World Ranking: #1
> Appearances: 2
> Points: 6 (6-5-0)
> Wins in ’18: 3
> Career Wins: 20

dj 

 

Tommy Fleetwood 

> World Ranking: #12
> Appearances: ROOKIE
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 7

fleetwood

 Justin Thomas

> World Ranking: #4
> Appearances: ROOKIE
> Wins in ’18: 3

> Career Wins: 10

thomas 

 

 Sergio Garcia

> World Ranking: #28
> Appearances: 8
> Points: 22.5 (19-11-7)
> Wins in ’18: 0
> Career Wins: 33

garcia

 Jordan Spieth 

> World Ranking: #10
> Appearances: 2
> Points: 5 (4-3-2)
> Wins in ’18: 0
> Career Wins: 14

 SPIETH

 

Tyrrell Hatton 

> World Ranking: #26
> Appearances: ROOKIE
> Wins in ’18: 0

> Career Wins: 7

hatton

 Rickie Fowler

> World Ranking: #9
> Appearances: 3
> Points: 4.5 (2-4-5)
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 8

FOWLER 

 

Rory McIlroy

> World Ranking: #6
> Appearances: 4
> Points: 11 (9-6-4)
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 23

rory

 Patrick Reed 

> World Ranking: #15
> Appearances: 2
> Points: 7 (6-1-2)
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 6

REED 

 

 Francesco Molinari

> World Ranking: #5
> Appearances: 2
> Points: 1 (0-3-2)
> Wins in ’18: 3

> Career Wins: 9

molinari

 Webb Simpson 

> World Ranking: #16
> Appearances: 2
> Points: 2.5 (2-3-1)
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 5

 WEBB

 

 Alex Noren

> World Ranking: #18
> Appearances: ROOKIE
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 11

noren

Tiger Woods 

> World Ranking: #13
> Appearances: 7
> Points: 14.5 (13-17-3)
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 107

WOODS 

 

 Thorbjorn Olesen

> World Ranking: #45
> Appearances: ROOKIE
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 12

olesen

 Phil Mickelson

> World Ranking: #25
> Appearances: 11
> Points: 21.5 (18-20-7)
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 49

 PHIL

 

 Ian Poulter

> World Ranking: #34
> Appearances: 5
> Points: 13 (12-4-2)
> Wins in ’18: 1

> Career Wins: 17

poults

 Bubba Watson

> World Ranking: #14
> Appearances: 3
> Points: 3 (3-8-0)
> Wins in ’18: 3

> Career Wins: 14

BUBBA 

 

Jon Rahm 

> World Ranking: #8
> Appearances: ROOKIE
> Wins in ’18: 2

> Career Wins: 5

arizona

 Bryson DeChambeau

> World Ranking: #7
> Appearances: ROOKIE
> Wins in ’18: 3

> Career Wins: 5

BRYSON 

 

Justin Rose

> World Ranking: #2
> Appearances: 4
> Points: 12 (11-6-2)
> Wins in ’18: 2

> Career Wins: 22

rose

 Tony Finau

> World Ranking: #17
> Appearances: ROOKIE
> Wins in ’18: 0

> Career Wins: 2

 FINAU

 

Henrik Stenson 

> World Ranking: #24
> Appearances: 4
> Points: 8 (7-7-2)
> Wins in ’18: 0

> Career Wins: 20

stenson


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