Ryder Cup: Who's hot, who's not
HOTSHOT: Team Europe's Viktor Hovland during a practice round at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club.
Any conversation about individual form coming into this tournament could just as easily be framed around the collective. The two teams have differed massively in their lead up to Rome. Every European player played two weeks ago at the BMW PGA Championship. All of them made the cut as well.
Bar Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Max Homa, the U.S. haven’t played a competitive round in over a month.
Europe’s 26-year-old monster is Viktor Hovland. He has finished inside the top 20 in all four major championships this year. One of the two players who have won at least three tournaments across the PGA and DP World Tours in 2023. At the last Ryder Cup, he played in all five sessions in 2021 but didn’t win a match (0-3-2).
“I hit a lot of great iron shots into tough pin positions and it was blowing. It played hard. But I just didn't finish it off,” Hovland explained this week.
“This time around with all the work that I've done on the short game and some of the accomplishments that I've made in the last few tournaments and throughout the year, I feel like I'm a lot more accomplished.” His individual this season has been terrific. Time now to transfer it to the team.
Here is one hell of a Hovland stat. He was 16 under par across the four majors in 2023. Only one player in the Ryder Cup posted better. USA’s Scottie Scheffler’s combined score was 18 under.
At Whistling Straits, the current world number one was unbeaten with 2.5 points out of 3. He is a rock from tee to green and then there is a chink. His putter has largely failed him over the last year. That is why it was particularly interesting to see Scheffler working with British putting coach Phil Kenyon on the practice green on Monday. Kenyon has worked with several of the world’s best and was closely monitoring Scheffler’s grip.
The fact that he performed two years ago bodes well too. The 27-year-old has said that was the most pressure he has ever felt as a golfer. He has the capability to be America’s most important player this week.
An automatic qualifier. All the advanced metrics indicate he is the worst player in the Ryder Cup. MacIntyre is one of four European rookies and earned his spot thanks to his form on the DP World Tour. He hasn’t made a mark on the PGA Tour and qualified for two majors in 2023, missing the cut at the PGA Championship and T71 at the Open. He did have a T6 finish at Portrush back in 2019.
He is the first Scottish player to feature since Stephen Gallacher in 2014. The big question is how much, or maybe how little, does he play. In press conferences this week, he confirmed he has a hint what he will be playing in and who he will be playing with.
A controversial pick with some arguing Cameron Young was more deserving. He has a close relationship with Scottie Scheffler, but he didn’t win a single one of his five matches in the Presidents Cup debut last year. 2023 hasn’t been as productive as his 2022 with fewer wins and top 10 finishes.
On the flip side, at the WGC Match, he won all seven and lifted the trophy. The weapon in his bag is his putter. Burns has tested several models and head shapes but is reluctant to change what works. On his team, he ranks behind only Xander Schauffele and Max Homa in Strokes Gained Putting (0.584) this season. A suitable foursomes partner for Scheffler.
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