Veteran foursome must deliver if Americans are to topple Europe

In all likelihood, the American hopes of staving off a seasoned European challenge will rest on the shoulders of four highly rated veterans – Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay.

Justin Thomas of Team United States during a practice round at the Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, New York. Pic: David Davies/PA Wire.

When it comes to the most intense event in golf, pressure is a big part of the equation. But the pressure hits different on each side at the Ryder Cup.

The Europeans this week at Bethpage Black have a desire – to join the 37 players who have ever won on the road in a U.S. Ryder Cup. In some ways, it’s almost like playing with house money and heart. Definitely not fear.

The Americans, however, have a need – to not lose the biggest home course advantage imaginable. That’s real pressure. New York fans will be merciless on the visitors in the arena, but they’ll be unforgiving to the losers in perpetuity if Team USA doesn’t deliver.

So who carries the brunt of that burden for Team USA? Is it captain Keegan Bradley, who declined the historic opportunity to pick himself as a playing captain and thus deprived the Americans of having one of their most fiery competitors inside the ropes?

Is it world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who may potentially be the only U.S. player to compete in all five sessions? The steady Texan seems more immune than most to feeling pressure, calling it “wasted space in my brain".

“I don’t think about expectations. I don’t bother with that kind of stuff because it’s unimportant to me,” Scheffler said on Tuesday. “What I focus on when I show up to tournaments is my preparation, and I have prepared for this tournament. I’m ready to go out and compete, and when I step up there on Friday I can tell myself on the tee that I did every last little thing that I could in order to play well when it’s time to go do what I love to do.

“I think on our team, I think we have 12 guys that are all equal. I don’t think one player is more important than another.” 

How about the four American rookies – Russell Henley, J.J. Spaun, Cameron Young and Ben Griffin? They’ll be tested in ways they’ve never experienced before when the nerves wash over them on Friday. 

They’ve played some of the best golf by the American side this season and have form in their favor if not experience.

What about Bryson DeChambeau – the square peg in the round hole of the U.S. roster as the only outsider from LIV Golf? 

DeChambeau – who teammate Xander Schauffele calls a golfing gladiator – seems perfectly suited for the theater of the Ryder Cup stage at Bethpage. In a way he’s part mascot: he may only be tasked to get three points, but he’ll be an unrelenting cheerleader whipping the home crowd into a froth even when he’s not competing.

In all likelihood, the American hopes of staving off a seasoned European challenge will rest on the shoulders of four highly rated veterans who have not been close to their best selves in 2025 – Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay.

That foursome comprises an opportunity for Europe to exploit a weakness in what should be an anticipated strength at the American core that includes three multiple major winners.

Schauffele hasn’t been himself in a season that started with a rib injury and ended with the longest extended layoff of any player on either team as he got bounced early from the FedEx Cup playoffs that turned into paternity leave with the birth of his first son, Victor, in late August.

Despite it all, Schauffele has the potential to be a tough out for the Euros as he understands the power of the moment and has delivered before.

“There’s nothing more rewarding than to be at home and to make a putt to win a hole or to even tie a hole if you’re in a bad spot and get these fans going and get them going quickly,” Schauffele said of his advice to rookies.

Cantlay was a bulldog for Team USA in Rome as he faced the most intense heat from the road crowd. He’s formed a pretty reliable partnership with Schauffele – especially in the Presidents Cup – and knows how to make putts under pressure. But he hasn’t won anything since 2022 and has as much to prove his merit as a captain’s pick as anyone at Bethpage.

“I think every time you show up to these events, you feel pressure to perform,” said Cantlay.

“I’m representing my country and my teammates, and the best way I can help is to go out and win points for them. So if I go out and win points and put points on the board, then I’ve done my job. Everything else is just noise to me.” 

Thomas was looking more like his old self when he won a signature event the week after the Masters, but his play has been mostly uninspiring since and he had to rely on a captain’s pick again. Along with DeChambeau, Thomas plays with more fire on a Ryder Cup stage, but he’ll be doing it this time without his usual sidekick Jordan Spieth.

“I don’t know if I’m quite ready to call myself the veteran because I think I associate the veteran with an older player and I’m just not quite ready for that yet,” Thomas said. “… But I’m going to be anything that I feel like I need to be for this team, for certain players, for the captains. Yeah, I know that I’m one of the leaders on the team.” 

Morikawa has been a relative mess in 2025, switching putters and caddies with an almost sense of desperation as he tries to live up to his lofty world No. 8 ranking. Objectively, the U.S. roster would be better if Bradley was playing instead of Morikawa – arguably the weakest putter on either team – because of both his clutch putting and his passion on the course. 

More than anyone, Morikawa may owe his place on the roster to Bradley’s selflessness and should feel pressure to deliver on that faith.

“I think these weeks just pull out the best in you,” Morikawa said. “Especially when you have a home crowd like this and people are cheering you on and you want to just hit great shots, sometimes your focus gets that much more intentional. And when intentions match kind of what you’re trying to accomplish, it sometimes comes together.

“So these weeks are a moment for that, and you want to step up to the plate and you don’t want to let not just the team down but the rest of the country, essentially, that are rooting you on.” 

The Americans need a lift up and not a letdown. If that foursome of veterans doesn’t deliver a sizeable share of the American point count, it’s hard to see the math working in the U.S. favour.