Every two years, golf fans are graced with one of the most fiery competitive events, the Ryder Cup. Being held in the United States this year at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, the two teams are captained by Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald. Bradley is the youngest Ryder Cup captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963, and Donald is the first captain to repeat their captaincy since Bernard Gallacher in 1993. This unique format has seen each team go on runs, with Team Europe currently 7-3 in the last 10 iterations. 

Let’s dive in!

 

Ryder Cup 2025: Daily Fantasy Golf Picks & Projections

The Ryder Cup is a match-play event, where each match is worth one point towards the winning score. Each day of the event offers something unique. Day one of the event will feature 4 foursome matches in the morning, and 4 fourball matches in the afternoon. The foursome matches will be alternate shot, with the fourball matches being best ball. Day 2 is the same format, but Day 3 is where the event is often decided. 12 singles matches will be played, with players going head to head to determine the winner. 14.5 points is the threshold to win the Ryder Cup, and 14 points are required by the defending champion to retain the cup.

 

Bethpage Black: Course Breakdown This Week

Bethpage Black is no joke of a course. Having previously hosted the 2019 PGA Championship, 2002 and 2009 U.S. Open, and The Barclays in 2012 and 2016, this event is also no stranger to the PGA Tour. Coming in at Par 70 (or 71) and between 7,400 and 7,500 yards, this course is famous for a sign at the first tee which states “WARNING The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers”. Even in PGA events that it is hosted, it is rare to have more than a handful of players more than just a couple strokes over par. This is highlighted by Tiger Woods 2002 U.S. Open win as the only player under par. 


Bethpage Black features Poa annua greens, with ryegrass mixed with Poa in the fairways. 3 of the 4 par 3s play over 200 yards, with the shorter playing at 160. The par 4’s play between 400-510 yards, with again just one playing shorter. The Par 5s come in around 520 and 610 yards respectively. The course features major elevation changes (as many as 80 feet between highest and lowest points), and there is constant undulation with bunkers throughout. Hitting the fairway is an absolute key, as the thick roughs are some of the most unforgiving players will run into. Driving accuracy will be a key stat as a result. 


The greens at Bethpage offer a bit of a reprieve, though not much. While relatively flat, they often slope with the course and have unique pin locations that often are required on some holes where players will have virtually the same approach shot. Play around the green projects to be much more important than on the green, as will the approach into the green. On the approach side, play inside of 100 yards and between 175 and 250 yards with nearly double tour average approach shots coming from 200-225. Players will need to be uber-accurate both off the tee and on approach to win their matches and score well. 

 

 

Ryder Cup 2025 Field: Golf DFS

Each team features 6 automatic qualifiers, with 6 captains picks. These automatic qualifiers are determined by earning Ryder Cup points throughout the season. The automatic qualifiers are Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English, and Bryson DeChambeau for the U.S., and Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Hojgaard, and Tyrrell Hatton for team Europe. The captains then get to pick 6 more players for the team, which can include themselves. There was much speculation that Keegan Bradley would be the first playing captain since Arnold Palmer in 1963, but Bradley opted against this. He instead chose Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, and Sam Burns. Justin Rose selected Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Jon Rahm. 

 

How to handle Ryder Cup DFS:

When you’re looking at an event like the Ryder Cup, you run into unique situations when it comes to how to play DFS. Firstly, not every player is in every session or playing everyday. As a result, attacking slates is truly unique as tournament long plays are dicey. As a result, I prefer taking advantage of the single day plays. Not only can you guarantee that your player is actually playing golf on that day or in those sessions, but you can also learn more about what that day looks like. So much of the Ryder Cup is the two man teams that are active for each side. Some players naturally play better when playing with guys they’re comfortable with, or if they’re playing against a twosome that they’re motivated to beat. For example, given the back and forth between Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau, there may be some extra gas in this matchup on both sides, which could be a bump for each player. Additionally, Rory and Shane Lowry are best friends off the course as well, which means that they may play better if paired together.

Building lineups for DFS is hard enough as it is, even harder at a course not exactly known for high scoring. Overall, my recommendation for DFS plays for this event is wait until the matchups and players are announced for each session before building lineups. This is the only way to guarantee points, and the only way you can truly see who should or shouldn’t be in play. The Ryder Cup is such a unique event, and as a result, requires a unique style of lineup building. The blocks are here to build, but an instruction manual is not needed. Set your lineups, root for your teams, and let’s hope we get 3 days of amazing golf.

 

Player Pool

$ Tier {{pos.alias}}

Stacks

{{stack.team.name}} {{player.name}}
DraftKings {{player.fantasy.price.value[8]}}-
Fanduel {{player.fantasy.price.value[6]}}-