No Tiger, Phil Or Sergio - 10 Big Name Stars Missing The 2023 Ryder Cup

The 2023 Ryder Cup features some of the biggest names from either side of the Atlantic, Including four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy, Masters champion Jon Rahm and World No.4 Viktor Hovland from Europe going up against the likes of World No.1 Scottie Scheffler, three-time Major winner Jordan Spieth and PGA Champion Brooks Koepka of the US.

However, there are still some big names who won’t be appearing at Marco Simone. Here are 10 of the highest profile names absent from the biennial match in Italy.

Tiger Woods

The 15-time Major winner has been reduced to sporadic playing appearances of late as he continues to feel the effects of an injury sustained in a car accident in 2021, but his presence still looms large over the elite game, including the Ryder Cup. 

Even though the 47-year-old has made eight playing appearances for Team USA, if anything, he has a slightly underwhelming overall record of 13-21-3, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have had a huge influence on the US team. 

Captain Zach Johnson even acknowledged as much in October 2022, when he said he would be part of the Ryder Cup Team USA set up “in some capacity”. In the event, Woods will not be in Italy for the match, but Johnson has revealed he and his team have been in contact with him during preparations for the defence of their title.

Phil Mickelson

If any name has been synonymous with the US Ryder Cup team over almost three decades, it is the six-time Major winner, who has been involved in every Ryder Cup since 1995, until now. 

The 53-year-old played in 12 successive matches between his maiden appearance and 2018, and even though he was only on the winning side three times, he amassed an overall record of 18-22-7. 

While he didn’t play at Whistling Straits two years ago, Mickelson was one of Steve Stricker’s vice captains, as he helped mastermind a record 19-9 win for the US.

Mickelson’s move to LIV Golf in 2022 left his chances of continuing his run looking slim, and so it proved, with no place for him in either the team or in a leadership role at Marco Simone.

Sergio Garcia

The Spaniard remains the youngest ever player to compete in the Ryder Cup, after making his debut in 1999 aged 19 years, 256 days. That wasn’t the only record he would go on to hold, though. Indeed, no one has claimed more points than Garcia, with 28.5 from 10 successive appearances up to 2021.

Like Mickelson, that run was put into serious jeopardy following his move to LIV Golf, and his absence from the 2023 edition was rubber-stamped after he resigned from the DP World Tour earlier in the year. That didn’t stop Garcia making a late bid to be involved by trying to rejoin the DP World Tour, but he was told he had “no chance” at the present time.

As a result, Luke Donald’s team will be without a genuine Ryder Cup legend in Italy, while it remains to be seen if the 43-year-old will grace future editions.

Ian Poulter

Another European LIV Golf player with a fantastic Ryder Cup history is Poulter, helped hugely by his appearance in 2012 at Medinah as he produced one of the most iconic moments in Ryder Cup history. 

At 10-5 down in the Saturday fourball session, the Europeans' challenge seemed all but finished, until Poulter dragged himself and Rory McIlroy into contention against Dustin Johnson and Jason Dufner with a staggering run of birdies, including one at the last to win the match and send him and the rest of the European team wild.

That altered the mood of the match entirely, and the Europeans went on to win by 14.5 points to 13.5 points. 

Overall, Poulter has played in seven editions of the match and has an impressive record of 15-8-2, but Team Europe will need to get by without his heroics this year.

Lee Westwood

No other player has been involved in more winning European teams than the former World No.1, with seven victories in his 11 appearances. Westwood contributed greatly in those matches, too, and has an overall record of 21-20-6. 

The Englishman made 10 successive appearances in the match between 1997 and 2016, but even though he didn’t play at Le Golf National in 2018, he was one of Thomas Bjorn’s vice-captains as the Europeans claimed victory.

Westwood resumed his playing role two years later at Whistling Straits, but for the first time in 13 matches, he will have no involvement.

Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson made five Ryder Cup appearances between 2010 and 2021, but he saved his best until the most recent at Whistling Straits. 

There, Johnson become the first American – and only the fifth player in history – to win all five matches at a Ryder Cup. 

At that point, it seemed almost unimaginable that he would have no involvement two years later, but that was before he became a marquee signing for LIV Golf in 2022.

It still wasn’t enough to thwart Johnson’s ambition to compete in Italy, and, back in May, he said: “I’d love to be part of the Ryder Cup.” 

He didn’t do enough in his few opportunities to accumulate qualifying points, though. Then, he was overlooked by captain Zach Johnson for a wildcard pick, meaning that, even though he has insisted he would have made the Ryder Cup team had he still been on the PGA Tour, Johnson will play no part in it.

Bryson DeChambeau

After months of speculation, in the end, only one LIV Golf made either Ryder Cup team – Team USA’s Brooks Koepka. However, one player who had a strong claim for inclusion was fellow American DeChambeau. 

Not only has the 2020 US Open champion played in the last two matches, but he has had a successful 2023 after struggling with injury the year before.

That has included two LIV Golf wins, one of which came at The Greenbrier and featured an incredible round of 58. He also finished T4 at the PGA Championship, but it wasn’t enough to be named one of Johnson’s wildcard picks. 

DeChambeau later said: “It would have been nice to have a call” after his Ryder Cup snub, but regardless, he will need to wait at least two more years for the chance of a third appearance.

Patrick Reed

Reed memorably went toe-to-toe with Rory McIlroy at Hazeltine in 2016 in an occasion that many consider the greatest ever Ryder Cup singles match. 

The pair produced some of the best golf ever seen in the Ryder Cup, trading birdies and a string of stunning putts until Reed eventually finished 1up to help the US claim the trophy.

Reed also played in two other editions either side of that match, where he was on the losing side. Despite those defeats, he has a highly impressive 7-3-2 record overall, but like so many other potential contenders for 2023, his options to qualify automatically became limited when he joined LIV Golf, while he didn’t do enough to persuade Johnson to make him a wildcard pick.

Will Zalatoris

One of the most unlucky players to miss out on the US team is surely Zalatoris. Even though he is yet to compete in the Ryder Cup, he had looked a good bet to qualify automatically for the match at Marco Simone.

Zalatoris had been riding high in the world rankings thanks to some impressive performances including runner-up at both the 2022 PGA Championship and US Open. That form was helping to take care of his position in the US points list, too, before he was forced to cut his season short after undergoing back surgery in April.

Still aged just 27, Zalatoris will be confident that when he returns he will still have a big Ryder Cup future ahead of him, beginning in two years at Bethpage Black.

Thomas Pieters

The Belgian has only played in one Ryder Cup, and it ended in defeat for Europe in 2016 at Hazeltine. Still, he could hold his head up high after emerging with a 4-1-0 record. 

Following that, his form began to suffer, not helped by a “lonely” experience on the PGA Tour. After getting his career back on track with several DP World Tour wins, though, there was an indication he was firmly in Luke Donald’s thoughts for the 2023 match when he was named part of the Continental Europe team that won January’s Hero Cup.

However, soon after, Pieters was named a new LIV Golf signing for its inaugural 14-tournament League season, and any prospect of him making the team all but disappeared.

Eventually, Donald’s team didn’t include any LIV Golf players, and Pieters will have to hope he can carry on from where he left off seven years ago at some point in the future.