If you’re a golf fan, the knowledge that this is a Ryder Cup year will fill you with joy. There are few sporting events that can fill you with the kind of excitement that the Ryder Cup offers, pitting the best golfers from the United States of America against the best ones from the rest of the world.
Even if you’re not a fan of the sport, the Ryder Cup is the kind of event that can soon work to change your mind, thanks to the team nature of it and the fact that American golf lovers often tend to be amongst the most hateful people on the planet.
The good news is that things are looking positive for Europe this year.
McIlroy & Rose in Fine Form After the Masters
The Masters Tournament in 2025 was amongst the most thrilling that the event has ever been. Rory McIlroy was seeking to win the tournament for the first time, which would in turn mean that he would become just the sixth golfer ever to win the Career Grand Slam.
We now know that he did exactly that, pushed all the way by fellow British golfer Justin Rose, who took it to a play-off at the end of the final round. The good news for Team Europe is that they will almost certainly both be lining up in the European Ryder Cup team, so seeing them play so well can only be a good thing.
@rydercupteameurope @Shane Lowry is one of us 🇪🇺💪 #RyderCup #TeamEurope ♬ original sound – Ryder Cup Europe
For McIlroy, finally getting the Green Jacket and becoming part of such an exclusive list will mean that he will be feeling like he’s walking on air right now, whilst Rose will undoubtedly be delighted to know that he’s still got it in him to come incredibly close to winning one of the Majors.
The fact that they did it on one of the toughest courses in America will also fill them with hope for the Ryder Cup, given that the US will be the home team this time around. The Bethpage Black Course in New York will be hosting the world’s best golfers, so the two of them along with seventh-place Ludvig Åberg will be pleased with their showing.
Winning Away isn’t Easy
Although European golfers will be feeling good thanks to their showing in the numerous PGA events that have taken place so far this year, the reality is that winning the Ryder Cup away from home is one of the toughest things to do in sport.
In fact, across the history of the competition, just ten of the United States’ wins have come away from home soil and the Great Britain, Great Britain & Ireland and European team has only won in the US four times. The good news is that they have all been relatively recent successes, with the first one coming in 1987 when it was hosted in Ohio.
feels like the american ryder cup team could get dog-walked at home this year
— Alex Kirshner (@alexkirshner.com) 13 April 2025 at 23:16
The second time that Europe won in the US was eight years later, with the city that played host being New York. Whilst it wasn’t the Bethpage Black Course that was hosting, it is still something worth noting. Team Europe will be hoping that it is a city that works well for them when they pack their clubs up and head off to the United States for the Ryder Cup 2025.
More than a few people are predicting that that is exactly what is going to happen, even if there is still nearly half a year to go before the event gets underway. Winning away isn’t easy, but Europe are due a big one.
Home Advantage Has Offered the Americans Scant Respite
The truth of the matter is that European golf has been in a great place for some time now. You would need to have a look at the Ryder Cup results back in the 1990s to see the last time that Team USA won back-to-back iterations of the tournament, which came in 1991 at Kiawah Island Golf Resort and two years later at The Belfry.
Since then, Team Europe has won consecutive tournaments on three occasions, so the overall feeling will be one of confidence for those golfers that Luke Donald decides to take with him to the US for this renewal of hostilities.
For the US team, the feeling of playing at home and taking some comfort from that will be paramount, given the fact that they haven’t won a Ryder Cup away from the United States since that 1993 victory at the Belfry. They’ve only won it four times since then, which will doubtless play on the minds of many and also be something that Europe’s players will look to take advantage of.
Given the fact that most of the biggest golf tournaments are played in the US, all of the players that Donald selects will know that they have what it takes to compete, even against a hostile local crowd.
