The 6 Big Names To Have Dropped Out Of Team USA Since The 2023 Ryder Cup

Ahead of the 2025 Ryder Cup, one thing is clear: the US goes into the match as the overwhelming favorite despite losing emphatically to the Europeans at Marco Simone by 16.5 to 11.5 two years ago.

One perceived advantage Keegan Bradley’s team has is the location, with the match being played on US soil at Bethpage Black.

A quick scan of recent history demonstrates the significance of that, with the hosts not having lost at home since Europe’s historic comeback win at the 2012 edition at Medinah.

Another is the strength of the US line-up, which features seven of the world’s top 10, and it would likely be eight were it not for Bryson DeChambeau’s limited opportunities to acquire world ranking points as a LIV Golfer.

One thing Bradley didn’t need to worry about while finalizing his team was a scarcity of viable options.

Not only could he have realistically picked himself, but the fact that half the team has changed from the previous match also hints at the abundance of US talent he had to choose from, including former winners and no fewer than 10 Major titles between them.

Here are the details of the six big names in the 2023 Ryder Cup team who didn’t do enough to make it to the 2025 edition.

Wyndham Clark

Clark’s breakout year in 2023 was down to a number of factors, including improving his approach game, making a putting change and teaming up with sports psychologist Julie Elion.

The changes paid dividends with his maiden PGA Tour title, a four-shot win over Xander Schauffele at the 2023 Wells Fargo Championship, and he followed that up with a Major honor when he defeated Rory McIlroy by one at the US Open.

Those victories ensured that he had booked his Ryder Cup place before August’s BMW Championship to become the second automatic qualifier after Scottie Scheffler.

At the match, Clark didn't disgrace himself, picking up 1.5 points from his three Ryder Cup sessions, despite the US defeat.

It appeared to be business as usual when he won the weather-affected Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February 2024, while he again demonstrated his team credentials with another 1.5 points as the US won that year’s Presidents Cup.

However, since then, things haven’t gone as well, with a winless 2025 seeing him slip not just out of the world’s top 10, but to 31^st on the eve of the Ryder Cup.

He also placed 17^th in the Ryder Cup standings, far short of the top six needed to qualify automatically and not good enough to earn a place as one of Bradley’s wildcards.

Rickie Fowler

Like Clark, Fowler made changes ahead of a career revival in 2023. After splitting with coach John Tillery in 2022, he returned to the legendary Butch Harmon, as well as taking advice from his brother, Craig Harmon.

Using in-person sessions and video analysis, the pair helped get the former World No.4’s swing back on track, and it resulted in some excellent form throughout 2023, including his first PGA Tour victory in over four years at the Rocket Mortgage Classic.

That earned him a wildcard, but his fine form didn’t translate to the Ryder Cup, where he left pointless after just two matches.

A year after his win in Detroit, Fowler’s form had largely deserted him again, and this time he pinpointed his putting as a particular cause for concern.

There were signs of recovery with a placing of fourth at the 2024 Zozo Championship, but Fowler’s form remained sketchy in 2025, a T7 at the Memorial Tournament aside.

By the time Bradley named his captain’s picks, Fowler’s fortunes had reversed, with a T6 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship followed by T7 at the BMW Championship, but it was too little, too late, with the captain overlooking him for a sixth Ryder Cup appearance.

Brian Harman

Before 2023, Harman’s US team appearances had been restricted to his amateur career, with two at the Walker Cup and two at the Palmer Cup, before he finally got his chance as an automatic qualifier for the Marco Simone match.

Harman’s maiden Major title, when he cruised to victory by six in the Royal Liverpool rain of The Open, was largely responsible.

In a difficult three days for the US team, he emerged with some credit having secured a 2–2–0 record, with victories in both his Saturday foursomes and four ball matches the high spots.

A year later, at the Presidents Cup, it was a different story, as Harman lost all three of his matches in the team’s win at Royal Montreal, a performance that surely hinted he may need to qualify automatically to get a look in at the next Ryder Cup.

Harman’s win at the 2025 Valero Texas Open helped, but he fell six short of an automatic qualifying spot, in 12^th.

That would have surely giving Bradley something to think about, but ultimately, three players beneath Harman in the standings, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns, got the nod instead, meaning he sits out the 2025 edition.

Max Homa

Homa qualified for the 2023 Ryder Cup team automatically, with three wins in the qualifying period largely responsible, and he took his opportunity with both hands.

While bright spots were few and far between for Team USA at the match, one was undoubtedly the performance of the rookie, whose 3-1-1 record was the best on the team and only matched by Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton for the Europeans.

A year later, Homa was less effective at the Presidents Cup, emerging with a 1-2-0 record, and in hindsight, that hinted at a broader malaise.

By that point, Homa had dropped out of the world’s top 10, and he was still struggling to emerge from his rut approaching the 2025 Masters, which he played in alongside a new caddie, Bill Harke, after splitting with Joe Greiner.

He managed a T12 at Augusta National after making his first cut in nine months, but it didn’t spark an upturn in fortunes.

By the end of the qualifying period, Homa was down to 116^th in the world rankings and way out of contention for a wildcard.

Brooks Koepka

Despite Koepka needing a wildcard to make the 2023 Ryder Cup team, it would have been something of a travesty if he’d missed out.

The LIV Golfer came within a whisker of qualifying automatically, and, earlier in the year, had secured his fifth Major title at the PGA Championship as well as two titles on his circuit.

Koepka also brought vast experience to the team, having played in the previous three editions.

Like so many of the US team, Koepka wasn’t at his best at Marco Simone, although he won 1.5 points, including a 3&2 victory over Ludvig Aberg in the Sunday singles.

Still, there was no real suggestion at that point that he wouldn’t be around for a fifth successive Ryder Cup appearance in 2025.

Two more LIV Golf titles came in 2024 to at least keep his name in the frame, but the man once famed for bringing his best to the Majors stopped firing in them, with two T26s the best he could muster in 2024 before he missed three out of four cuts in 2025.

With LIV Golf titles also drying up this year, Koepka had fallen well out of contention before Bradley chose his six to play alongside the automatic qualifiers.

Jordan Spieth

For the first time in six editions, the US team won’t include three-time Major winner Spieth, who needed to rely on a wildcard in 2023 but didn’t get that luxury two years on.

Despite his vast experience and the possibility of reviving his successful partnership with Justin Thomas, Spieth was overlooked.

That came after a season that included undoubted bright spots, including four top-10s, along with a host of more subdued performances.

It’s somewhat understandable that Spieth has struggled for consistency as his season didn’t begin until February, having recovered from wrist surgery to address a long-standing issue.

Even though he may well have still have been under consideration as Bradley narrowed down his wildcards, dropping out of the world’s top 50 told its own story, and for the first time since 2012, the Ryder Cup will take place without Spieth in it.