The Most Underrated Players In Ryder Cup History... According To The Stats

The 2025 Ryder Cup is the final edition of the event’s first 100 years, so here we’re looking back at some of the players who have made it what it is and ahead to those likely to play this year.

As a global spectacle, the event was elevated in 1979 by Jack Nicklaus’ idea to extend the GB&I team into a European one.

There has not been an away win since 2012’s Miracle at Medinah, so maybe that really was divine intervention. As the home team gets to pick the course and set it up, this may be an advantage, but usually, as long as the match is close, the drama is irresistible to watch.

Europe have won away four times – in 1987 at Muirfield Village, 1995 at Oak Hill, 2004 at Oakland Hills and, of course, 2012.

After winning with the dream team of 11 Major Champions at Walton Heath in 1981, the USA took a liking to England and The Belfry, with a tie there in 1989 and a win in 1993.

Many players made their reputations via their performances in the Ryder Cup, rising to the challenges of match play and the team environment.

Looking at it from 1979 onwards, and subject to a minimum of eight matches played, we’ve evaluated players using ratings from the Match Play World Rankings.

This factors in results in all match play events that play singles, four-ball or foursomes, so the Presidents Cup and WGC Match Play, for example, as well as the Ryder Cup. Ratings over 0.500 are good, 0.550 very good and 0.600 exceptional.

Most underrated players - Europe

From a separate ‘Ryder Cup only’ section in the Match Play World Rankings, only one of Europe’s top six players from 1979 onwards has won a Major – Jose Maria Olazabal.

Captain Luke Donald is a great example – a World No.1 with an exemplary Ryder Cup record of 0.700 points per match who also went undefeated in the Walker Cup. His overall record in all match play events is 0.676.

For Europe, the backbone of Olazabal (0.661), Colin Montgomerie (0.653), Ian Poulter (0.640) and Sergio Garcia (0.633), with each playing over 25 matches, is exceptional. However, there are some unsung heroes too.

Paul Way (P9 W6 L2 H1, 0.722 points per match) played twice and has the best record of anyone to play more than eight games for Europe.

In 1983, he was paired with Seve four times and won three-and-a-half points in total. In 1985, he teamed up with Ian Woosnam and won three points to be a leading part of the first win for GB&I/Europe since 1957.

Manuel Pinero (P9 W6 L3, 0.667 points per match) won three European Tour titles, but the Spaniard may not be a household name. However, in 1981 and 1985 he was good enough to partner Bernhard Langer and Seve, scoring four out of five points in Europe’s 1985 win.

Paul Lawrie (P8 W4 L3 H1, 0.563 points per match) won a Major and claimed eight tour wins, but could be said to have flown under the radar in the Ryder Cup. This gritty competitor played in both matches involving the greatest comebacks of all time.

He was joint top scorer in 1999 as the USA came from four behind on Saturday night to win, then won a vital singles match in 2012 as Europe overturned the same deficit to triumph at Medinah.

Most underrated players – USA

Since 1979, Lee Trevino (0.813) and Larry Nelson (0.731) have led the USA’s success. In more recent times, Patrick Cantlay (0.688), Patrick Reed (0.667) and Justin Thomas (0.615) have taken the lead. However, there are also USA match play specialists who seemed to thrive when the pressure was on.

Chip Beck (P9 W6 L2 H1, 0.722 points per match) only had four PGA Tour wins, so you may not think he’d be the third best US Ryder Cupper since 1979, but his record in three outings from 1989 to 1993 is excellent: 0.583 in pairs matches plus three singles wins out of three.

Lanny Wadkins (P31 W17 L11 H3, 0.597 points per match from 1979), won 21 PGA Tour titles, including the 1977 US PGA. If you factor in a 100% win rate on his 1977 debut, he’s the only American in this era to have a record of over 60% from more than 30 games.

He was equally good at foursomes, four-ball and singles, but his 1995 captaincy, when the USA lost in dramatic fashion at Oak Hill, may explain his lack of recognition.