Ryder Cup: Team USA, Europe rankings ahead of ‘Year-to-Go’ event

NEW YORK — As part of the ‘Year-to-Go’ celebration, Ryder Cup captains Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald will address the media on Tuesday at The Times Center in Midtown Manhattan.

With the Presidents Cup now in the rearview mirror, the focus immediately shifts to Bethpage Black, which will host the Ryder Cup for the first time next September. Next year will mark the second time the state of New York hosts this competition, as the Europeans turned Oak Hill into ‘Choke Hill’ for the Americans in 1995. Team USA hopes to avoid a similar fate on Long Island next year, which will mark 30 years since that Sunday collapse in Rochester.

Qualifying for both teams is already underway, with either side using different criteria.

For the Americans, players could earn points at only five events across 2024: the four majors and The Players at TPC Sawgrass. Americans earned one point per $1,000 at these tournaments, meaning they had to make the cut to do so. However, the specific criteria for 2025 events remain a mystery. Perhaps Bradley and the PGA of America will shed light on the qualification procedures on Tuesday, given that the PGA Tour unveiled its 2025 schedule in mid-August.

The Europeans, meanwhile, have a much more pronounced qualification system already in place. For its ‘Back 9’ events this fall, the DP World Tour will award 1,500 Ryder Cup points to its European members between now and the end of the year. However, 2,000 points will be up for grabs at the Rolex Series Events in 2024 and 2025—the European equivalent of the PGA Tour’s Signature Events.

Two of the five events remaining on this year’s schedule are Rolex Series Events: the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. Only the top 70 and 50 players in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai rankings qualify for those, respectively.

Last month’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, won by Billy Horschel in an epic playoff over Rory McIlroy, was also a Rolex Series Event, meaning plenty of points were up for grabs.

Ryder Cup qualifying for the Europeans began three weeks before that, at the Betfried British Masters in late August, which kicked off the ‘Back 9’ portion of the DP World Tour’s 2024 schedule.

The full breakdown for making the European Ryder Cup follows below, which includes details for the 2025 season:

• Major Championships: 5,000 points available
• 2025 PGA Tour Signature Events, The Players Championship, FedEx Cup Playoffs: 3,000 points available
• DP World Tour Rolex Series: 2,000 points available
• PGA Tour Regular Events: 2,000 points available
• 2024 DP World Tour ‘Back 9’ Events: 1,500 points available
• DP World Tour ‘Global Series’ Events: 1,000 points available
• 2025 PGA Tour Alternate Events: 1,000 points available

Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

American Ryder Cup Rankings as of Oct. 8, 2024:

The top 20 players follow below:

1. Xander Schauffele — 9,580.956
2. Scottie Scheffler — 9,145.556
3. Bryson DeChambeau — 6,993.000
4. Collin Morikawa — 2,478.133
5. Brian Harman — 2,250.561
6. Billy Horschel — 2,037.223
7. Wyndham Clark — 1,936.213
8. Patrick Cantlay — 1,613.255
9. Russell Henley — 1,600.426
10. Tony Finau — 1,575.878
11. Sahith Theegala — 1,234.287
12. Max Homa — 1,229.883
13. Maverick McNealy — 876.387
14. Harris English — 809.343
15. Taylor Moore — 762.756
16. Cameron Young — 753.991
17. Chris Kirk — 739.751
18. Adam Schenk — 690.536
19. Sam Burns — 662.674
20. Justin Thomas — 611.638

European Ryder Cup Rankings as of Oct. 8, 2024:

The top 20 players follow below:

1. Rasmus Højgaard (Denmark) — 376.92
2. Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) — 354.07
3. Matt Wallace (England) — 340.90
4. Niklas Nørgaard (Denmark) — 334.35
5. Tyrrell Hatton (England) — 295.84
6. Angel Hidalgo (Spain) — 269.17
7. Matteo Manassero (Italy) — 227.41
8. Jon Rahm (Spain) — 205.30
9. Alfredo Garcia-Heredia (Spain) — 194.55
10. Tommy Fleetwood (England) — 185.63
11. Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium) — 180.32
12. Grant Forrest (Scotland) — 158.70
13. Matthew Baldwin (England) — 125.92
14. Andrew Johnston (England) — 124.89
15. Jordan Smith (England) — 120.29
16. Alex Fitzpatrick (England) — 111.94
17. Jorge Campillo (Spain) — 106.52
18. Jeong Weon Ko (France) — 103.55
19. Robert MacIntyre (Scotland) — 102.32
20. Shane Lowry (Ireland) — 97.87

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.