The 2025 Ryder Cup is upon us. Team USA and Team Europe will battle for the 2025 Ryder Cup, where captains Keegan Bradley and Justin Rose have assembled teams of 12 of the best players from each region. Given the format, which will showcase best ball, alternate shot, and head-to-head matches, we get unique opportunities to attack some of the plays available to us. Let’s take a dive into some of my favorite plays for this event.

Ryder Cup 2025 Predictions

Given that this is the 24 of the best players between the United States and Europe, as expected, this should be an absolute shootout. Team Europe has dominated the Ryder Cup recently, going 7-3 in the last 10 Ryder Cups, but Team USA opened as -150 favorites this year. 4 of the previous 5 wins for Team USA have come on U.S. soil, so this line does make sense. There is also a ton of storylines to follow here. After his well-known snub from the last Ryder Cup team, Keegan Bradley opted out of being a playing captain (which would’ve been completely justified) to captain this team. Players love Keegan, so I imagine they’ll want to run through a wall to win for him. Justin Rose is also the first repeat captain of Team Europe this century, so players have a rapport with him as well. This should be an amazing experience for all lovers of the game of golf.

 

 

 

Ryder Cup Free Picks Featuring Ben Griffin

Ben Griffin Top Debutant Point Scorer (+330 at DraftKings)

Ben Griffin probably didn’t think he’d be here at the start of 2025. Griffin had just 2 runner-up finishes and 9 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour prior to this season, and nearly quit professional golf entirely just a few short years ago. That didn’t stop Griffin, though, as he rattled off 11 top 10 finishes, 2 runner-up finishes, and 2 wins this year on tour. Griffin finished 5th on the PGA Tour in SG: Total this year, and almost all facets of his game were firing on all cylinders. He finished the 2025 season on a heater as well, with 5 straight top 12 finishes, including a runner-up finish two weeks ago at the Procore Championship.

Griffin was one of the best bogey avoiders on tour in 2025, finishing 9th overall. This will help him in all formats, as avoiding bogeys usually guarantees at least a split hole, meaning his matchups are ones where he is unlikely to fall behind. Additionally, his game fits Bethpage Black well. He was top 24 on approach this year, top 18 in SG: Tee-to-Green and putting, and was a top 20 player around the greens as well. Bethpage is no joke, but Griffin’s game will allow him to attack when needed and recover when it doesn’t go well. I can’t find a debutant whom I prefer this week.

 

 


 

Ryder Cup Team USA Pick: Patrick Cantlay Top 3 Point Scorer (+230 at DraftKings)

Say what you want about Patrick Cantlay, and some of the controversy that surrounded him at the last Ryder Cup, where he reportedly refused to wear the team hat due to not being compensated financially for playing in the event, the man shows up when he needs to. Cantlay has arguably the best success on the entire Team USA roster in this event. He’s finished 5-2-1 in his matches, and has recorded a point in 68.75 percent of the matches he has competed in, just ahead of Justin Thomas’ 61.54 percent. He ties for the 2nd most matches on the team as well, so he has the experience in this event to compete. 

Not only does Cantlay have experience in the Ryder Cup, but he’s also one of the handful of players to have experience at Bethpage Black. Appearing here in 2019, he finished T3rd at the PGA Championship as one of just 6 players to finish under par in that showing. Was Cantlay a better overall player in 2019 than he is now? Sure, but he’s still arguably a top 10 player on tour. This season, he finished 15th on approach, 35th off the tee, and in the top half of qualified players on and around the green, and 10th overall, Tee-to-Green. Cantlay is a great value at this price.
 

 

 

Ryder Cup Team Europe Pick: Tommy Fleetwood Top GB and Ireland Points Scorer (+280 at DraftKings)

Much like Cantlay above, Fleetwood may not be the sexy pick here, but he’s certainly a logical one. This will be Fleetwood’s 4th Ryder Cup appearance, and he’s got a 7-3-2 match record and has scored points in 66.67 percent of his matches, which is the highest on the team. Only Rory McIlroy has played more matches than him as well, making him one of the most experienced players on this roster. 

Fleetwood’s 2025 season was much like the rest of his career, save for the fact that he was finally able to break through and get a win on the PGA Tour. He finished 2nd on tour in SG:Tee-to-Green, top 20 in SG:Putting, and remained an elite ballstriker, finishing 6th in SG:Approach. He also plays extremely accurately off the tee, which will be huge for a course like Bethpage Black, where you will struggle if you miss the fairway. Fleetwood presents a great value here.
 

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