With the 45th Ryder Cup set to start on Friday, Sept. 26, Team Europe Captain Luke Donald enters the competition with one of the strongest teams Europe has fielded in years.

The Europeans have had tremendous success against the Americans in recent tournaments, but they have only won the tournament four times on United States soil.

Team Europe's six automatic qualifiers are led by Masters' champion Rory McIlroy. He will be joined by fellow qualifiers Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Hojgaard, and Tyrrell Hatton. 

Donald used his six captain's selections on Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, and Matt Fitzpatrick. 

This team has plenty of international competition experience. Most are also coming off of brilliant 2025 seasons.

This will be McIlroy's eighth consecutive Ryder Cup competition. He has an overall record of 16-13-4 in Ryder Cup competition, which is good for 18 career points. McIlroy had a career-best four-point performance in 2023 and has missed only one session since he began playing in the Ryder Cup.

McIlroy claimed his first major victory in 11 years when he won the Masters. The victory also gave him the career grand slam. He is just the sixth player in golf history to have claimed victory in all four Major Championships.

McIlroy is ranked No. 2 in the world by the Official World Golf Rankings.

This will be MacIntyre's second appearance in the Ryder Cup. He finished second in the automatic qualifier. In 2023, he was the most successful rookie for Team Europe as he played in three matches and won 2.5 points. He sat out the foursome sessions, but partnered with Justin Rose in the four-ball matches and won one match and tied the other. MacIntryre also defeated Wyndham Clark 2&1 and earned a full point for the Europeans in singles competition.

He broke into the world top-10 for the first time in 2025 as he is ranked No. 9 by the Official World Golf Rankings. MacIntyre fought back from seven shots down at the U.S. Open and was the leader in the clubhouse before finally being beaten out by J.J. Spaun. He tied for 17th at the Tour Championship.

Fleetwood will be making his fourth appearance in the Ryder Cup competition. He secured the third automatic berth by virtue of his play in 2025. He had a very successful Ryder Cup debut in 2018 as he won all four four-ball matches he participated in with partner Francesco Molinari.

Fleetwood won the PGA Championship last month and took home the FedEx Cup Trophy. Prior to that he was known simply as the best player on Tour without a PGA Tour victory. He is currently ranked sixth in the world by the Official World Golf Rankings.

This will mark Rose's seventh appearance in Ryder Cup competition. He is seeking a fifth Ryder Cup win as the elder statesman for Donald's European team. He has an impressive foursomes record of 7-2-1, with alternate shot bringing almost half of his 15½ points. He averages over 2.5 points per Ryder Cup appearance.

The Englishman did not record a top-ten finish before he had back-to-back top finishes before coming in second to McIlroy at the Masters in an unforgettable playoff.

Rose is currently ranked No. 12 in the world.

Hojgaard is making his Ryder Cup debut in 2025 at Bethpage. He finished fifth in the European Team Rankings to secure his spot on the team. 

Hojgaard is ranked 53rd in the world by the Official World Golf Rankings.

Hatton will be competing in his fourth Ryder Cup tournament and was an automatic qualifier in each instance.  In 2023 he had his greatest success in Cup play as he was one of just three golfers to go undefeated in the tournament. 

Hatton had a top-five finish at the 2025 U.S. Open. He also cracked the top-20 at the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship which contributed to his automatic selection.

Hatton, who turned professional in 2011, is ranked 25th in the world.

Lowry made his debut on the Ryder Cup circuit in 2021. He is currently ranked 23rd in the world by the Official World Golf Rankings. The Irishman has a 4-6-2 record in Ryder Cup competition. He was barely edged out by Hojgaard for the final automatic spot, so it was readily assumed he was going to be a captain's selection.

Lowry finished in the top-15 in his first five events of 2025. He then followed that up by securing top-three finishes at the DP World Tour Championship and the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am. 

Bethpage will be Rahm's fourth Ryder Cup appearance and second on United State soil. He was a captain's selection and is a world-class figure in the game of golf. He has an overall record of 12-6-6 in Ryder Cup competition. He is perfect in foursomes competition as he is 4-0-0.

His 2025 season saw him make the cut in all four of this year’s Majors, including top tens at the PGA Championship and U.S. Open. He finished 24th in the European Team Rankings. Rahm won LIV Golf’s Individual Championship for the second year as he finished inside the top ten at all 12 events during 2025.

Rahm is currently ranked No. 80 in the world by the Official World Golf Rankings.

This will be Straka's second Ryder Cup tournament as he also participated in 2023 and secured two points for Team Europe. He is currently ranked as the 13th best golfer in the world by the Official World Golf Rankings. He is the first player from Austria to play in multiple Ryder Cups.

Straka won the American Express Championship and although it did not secure him any Ryder Cup points, he certainly made a splash on the PGA Tour. He played well in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am and the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Finally, he won the Truist Championship before notching a top-three finish at The Memorial Tournament.

Hovland made his Ryder Cup debut in 2020, after turning professional in 2019. This will be his third consecutive Ryder Cup tournament. This will be his second in the United States. He did not have a successful first attempt in the United States as he finished with a record of 0-3-1 at Whistling Straits in 2021. He has accumulated nine points in Ryder Cup play. Hovland was an automatic qualifier in his first two Ryder Cups, but in 2025 was a captain's pick.

Hovland had a third place finish at the U.S. Open in June. He came back with a tie for seventh at the BMW Championship and a 12th place finish at the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour in August.

Hovland is ranked 15th in the world by the Official World Golf Rankings.

Aberg made his first Ryder Cup appearance in 2023, the same year he turned professional. He ended the 2024 season as the world's fifth best golfer. He slipped a bit in 2025 as he is currently ranked 14th in the world.

Åberg made golfing history by becoming the first player to play in a Ryder Cup before making an appearance in a Major Championship. He was selected the day after winning his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2023 Omega European Masters. 

Fitzpatrick will make his fourth Ryder Cup appearance and third away from Europe. He was a captain's pick for the first time.  

He has recorded top-ten finishes at the PGA Championship and The Open. He also pulled off the feat in his next five events across the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour. This includes his most recent two starts at the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo and Omega European Masters after missing out on qualifying for the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship.