Jim Furyk’s decision to name Tony Finau as his fourth and final wild card on Monday means both the United States and European teams for the Ryder Cup are now complete.
Here, Press Association Sport compares the sides ahead of their showdown at Le Golf National in Paris later this month.
World Ranking
Verdict: Advantage USA
Justin Rose is the World No.1
Major wins
America were already 12-6 ahead after both teams’ eight automatic qualifiers were confirmed, but while Bjorn was able to boost Europe’s tally to eight by picking Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson, Furyk could call on the 19 major victories of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The US lead the category 31-8, have won three of 2018’s four majors – Francesco Molinari’s Open triumph bucking the trend – and 12 of the last 17 have been won by Americans.
Verdict: Comprehensive USA victory
Tiger Woods has won 14 majors
Ryder Cup Record
Justin Thomas, Finau and Bryson DeChambeau are the only rookies on the US team, while Bjorn has five in his ranks with Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Jon Rahm, Alex Noren and Thorbjorn Olesen all qualifying for the first time. However, of the seven Europeans with Ryder Cup experience, only Molinari averages less than half a point per match. America’s team have 139 matches of Ryder Cup experience to Europe’s 124, but much of it is negative, with Europe having collected 72.5 points to the 67 of the US, for whom Woods and Mickelson are among five players with losing records.
Verdict: Advantage Europe
Justin Thomas is one of the rookies in the US team
Form this year
On the face of it there is not much between the two sides, with the Americans having racked up 15 global victories in 2018 to Europe’s 13. However, Furyk probably has more to worry about than Bjorn on this front, with Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson and Patrick Reed’s form tailing off in recent weeks. And while US rookie DeChambeau cannot stop winning, Rose’s rise and the consistency of Molinari is a boost for Bjorn, whose main concern will be Sergio Garcia’s recent slump.
Verdict: All square
Jordan Spieth has not been in the best of form
Course Record
Only three of America’s 12 players have played a competitive round at Le Golf National, and Thomas’ tie for eighth at this year’s Open de France is the only positive in this category for Furyk. Koepka missed the cut on his only appearance in 2013 and Watson not only went home after two rounds in 2011, but also offended the locals by complaining about the behaviour of spectators and referring to the Eiffel Tower as “the big tower” and the Arc de Triomphe as “an arch, whatever I rode around in a circle” during a press conference. Hatton is the only member of the European Tour not to record a top-10 finish at the Versailles venue, where Noren and Fleetwood have won in the last two years.
Verdict: Comprehensive Europe victory
