– There have been 23 editions of the Ryder Cup that have pitted Europe against the United States (1979-2025), compared to the 22 that saw Great Britain and Ireland face the United States (1927-1977). Therefore, the ‘new’ Ryder, the one that undeniably revitalised the tournament, now has more editions. Given what we’ve seen at Bethpage, it doesn’t seem like the competition is waning, quite the opposite.
– The overall score (1927-2025) still gives a significant advantage to the United States: out of the 45 editions that have been contested, they have won 27 times, lost 16, and tied twice. However, as is well known and worth reiterating, Europe clearly dominates the scoreboard since playing as such (1979-2025) with thirteen victories, nine defeats, and one draw, the one in 1989, which also allowed them to retain the cup.
– Let’s focus on the period 1979-2025, since the British-Irish team expanded to all of Europe. It’s interesting because, in reality, point by point, the difference between Europe and the United States is not as large as those thirteen continental victories compared to the nine American ones might suggest. Surely, this aspect will surprise more than a few.
– In the 23 editions that have already been contested from 1979 to 2025, a total of 644 points have been played, distributed in 184 foursomes, another 184 fourballs, and 276 singles (*). Well, the overall result, pay attention, is 327 points for Europe and 317 for the United States. As you can see, there’s only a ten-point difference over 23 editions, so it doesn’t even average out to half a point more per edition.
– Europe clearly dominates in team play. But surely more than one considered that foursomes were clearly their best weapon… And they are, but not with such overwhelming clarity. In reality, Europe has been almost equally superior in the alternate shot format as in the better ball format. In these 23 editions, Europe has scored 99.5 points in foursomes, compared to the United States’ 84.5; and 99 points in fourballs, compared to the United States’ 85. The balance between both formats, as you can see, is almost absolute. In total, in team play, Europe scores 198.5 points, compared to the United States’ 169.5.
– It’s in the singles where the stars and stripes make more of a difference and equalise the overall forces. The United States scores 147.5 points in singles compared to Europe’s 128.5.
– Let’s now look at some more specific numbers and data, mainly referring to some players, after the 2025 Ryder at Bethpage:
· Rory McIlroy is already emerging as a legend in numerous aspects of the history of this competition. He played his eighth Ryder Cup at Bethpage, so he now only has eight players ahead of him with more editions played: two Americans, Phil Mickelson (12) and Jim Furyk (9); and six Europeans, Nick Faldo (11), Lee Westwood (11), Sergio García (10), Bernhard Langer (10), Christy O’Connor Snr. (10), and Dai Rees (9).
· Rory has already played 38 out of 40 possible points, which undoubtedly speaks to his importance in the team. Only one American player in history has played more points than him, Mickelson (47). And five Europeans: Westwood (47), Faldo (46), García (45), Langer (42), and Neil Coles (40).
· The Northern Irishman has played his eight Ryder Cups consecutively (2010-2025), still far from the eleven consecutive ones played by Nick Faldo (1977-1997) and especially the twelve consecutive ones played by Mickelson (1995-2018).
· Rory, finally, reached 21.5 total points at Bethpage and has joined the exclusive group of thirteen players who have scored twenty or more points in the entire history of the competition, seven behind the top scorer, who remains Sergio (28.5).
· Tommy Fleetwood is already emerging as a Ryder myth. The Englishman scored four of the five points he played at Bethpage, bringing his total to 12/17, which represents 70.59 percent of points scored. Fleetwood has played four editions, and no one in the European squad with four or more editions played surpasses that percentage. The Englishman has played a total of 17 matches, and only Arnold Palmer has a better percentage (71.87) with 17 or more matches under his belt (Palmer played 32 matches and scored 23 points).
· Precisely, Fleetwood shares an extraordinary record with Jon Rahm, as both have played six foursomes in four editions and won them all. In this area, the alternate shot, Sergio’s numbers remain the benchmark: he played 19 foursomes, and his record is 12-4-3.
· Jon Rahm continues to make his mark. He has already played four editions, just like Fleetwood, Hatton, or Fitzpatrick on the European side, or Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka on the American side, to name players who can objectively still add more participations. These four editions are not few. At Bethpage, five players made their Ryder debut (Rasmus Hojgaard, Spaun, Henley, Young, and Griffin), so the total number of players who have played at least one point in the competition, throughout history (1927-2025), is now 364 (202 Americans and 162 Europeans). Well, out of those 364 players, only 61 have played more than four editions (34 Europeans and 27 Americans).
· Rahm has reached a total of 10.5 points with the three he scored at Bethpage, a figure that already places him among the 25 players who have scored the most in the European team in Ryder history. In reality, only fifteen American players and 21 Europeans have scored more than 10.5 points in the history of the competition, a total of 36. Depending on how you look at it, Barrika’s man doesn’t have much left to reach more significant heights. Depending on how you look at it, of course, because nothing and no one guarantees anything in this competition.
(*) In these 23 editions from 1979 to 2025, the envelope rule had to be used on three occasions (1991, 1993, and 2025) due to injuries to different players affecting the singles day, so in reality, there were three of the 276 singles matches that did not take the field and ended in three draws before play began.
