Ryder Cup 2025: Which European Players Are In Contention For One Of Luke Donald's Six Captain's Picks?

As the 2025 Ryder Cup quickly approaches, several crucial decisions need to be made over the coming days - the biggest of which, from a European point of view, relates to which six players will be picked to defend their title.

While they had home advantage behind them at Marco Simone back in 2023, an away trip to Bethpage Black represents one of the toughest tasks open to Team Europe. The prize, should they manage to do it, is a first away victory since 2012 for either team and another two years clutching on to the little gold trophy.

Half of Luke Donald's roster is already locked in place following Rasmus Hojgaard's successful outright qualification at the Betfred British Masters. But by doing so, the Dane ensured his twin brother was not guaranteed another stint on Team Europe while also preventing several high-quality players from sealing their own fate.

Ahead of Donald unveiling his six wildcards picks, European fans know Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton will join Rasmus Hojgaard in New York between September 26-28.

But what about the remaining names? Who is likely to be picked among the captain's six and who could miss out? We've listed the contenders below.

Jon Rahm

Jon Rahm is 99.99% guaranteed to be at the 2025 Ryder Cup, despite ending 24th in the European Ryder Cup rankings.

His lowly position was exclusively down to a lack of starts in DP World Tour events, with another excellent season in the LIV Golf League not helping his automatic qualification hopes.

Nevertheless, Rahm will be picked by Luke Donald after the Spaniard wrapped up the Individual Championship for the second year in a row and was only outside of the top-10 once all season.

Add into that his much-improved performances at the Majors in 2025 and a total of 7.5 points from three Ryder Cup appearances - two of which were wins - and Rahm is an absolute lock to be picked by Donald.

Shane Lowry

Shane Lowry missed out on automatically qualifying for the European Ryder Cup team by less than four points to Tyrrell Hatton, but the Irishman is another who was always likely to be one of Luke Donald's 12 as long as he finished somewhere inside the top-10.

Lowry's overall record at the Ryder Cup stands at 2.5 points from six matches in two appearances, so it's not quite as good as he might have hoped. But, the 38-year-old's overall experience adds another intangible factor to his cause and further strengthens his chances of receiving a pick.

Sepp Straka

Sepp Straka finished the 2025 PGA Tour season with two wins and in eighth place on the European Ryder Cup rankings, but he may not be an absolute guarantee to make his second Ryder Cup appearance next month.

His performances after triumphing at the Truist Championship have been quite up and down, with two top-10s intertwined with two missed cuts and some wild putting performances in particular. That has left him 35th in the Data Golf world rankings.

And the fact that Straka finished so far adrift at the Tour Championship will not have gone unnoticed by Luke Donald, either - the 32-year-old was four strokes away from Hideki Matsuyama in 29th and seven behind T27th.

But the Austrian will hope his two-win campaign and development as a force on the PGA Tour will be enough to encourage the European captain.

Ludvig Aberg

Ludvig Aberg finished ninth in Team Europe's rankings but is surely one of Luke Donald's first picks for Bethpage.

The Swede claimed a highly impressive win at the Genesis Invitational back in February before going off the boil somewhat after a seventh-place finish at The Masters.

However, Aberg's consistency returned from the Scottish Open onwards and he looks in a good place again, just in time to build on his two points from four matches on debut.

Viktor Hovland

For much of the qualifying window, Viktor Hovland had appeared a little lost and was potentially in danger of missing out on a pick for the 2025 Ryder Cup. However, a mildly surprising win at the Valspar Championship put the Norwegian back on the right track and he looks set for one of Donald's six selections after all.

Hovland has played all five sessions of both matches he's been involved in to date, scooping 4.5 points. While he probably won't maintain his 100% record at Bethpage Black, Hovland's mercurial talent may prove vital in any European success, and Donald will be well aware of that.

Harry Hall

Harry Hall might well have given Luke Donald the biggest headache this year. The Englishman has enjoyed a breakthrough past 12 months or so, started by a win at the ISCO Championship which propelled his career to the next level.

Since winning for the first time on the PGA Tour, Hall has established himself as a regular contender in America and even qualified for the Tour Championship, going on to end T17th.

His putting stats mark him down as the best on the PGA Tour in 2025 and he has a short game which would be extremely helpful around Bethpage. The problem, as far as Luke Donald is concerned, is that he could be the unlucky 13th man due to others possessing prior Ryder Cup experience.

But if Donald wants to roll the dice with a rookie, Hall has the best chance of being the beneficiary.

Matt Fitzpatrick

Matt Fitzpatrick's path to this point followed a similar route to Hovland's in that, earlier this year, it did not look good for the Englishman's prospects. Yet, a significant upturn in form - sparked by a T8th at the PGA Championship - has led Fitzpatrick to the door of a Ryder Cup return.

Among the positives for Fitzpatrick is that he's playing really well at the moment and he has Ryder Cup experience in 2016, 2021 and 2023.

However, that Ryder Cup history is more of a double-edged sword for the 2022 US Open winner. Fitzpatrick has only claimed one point from eight matches in Ryder Cups - a stat line that Donald and co. cannot ignore as they look to make their selections for Bethpage.

Marco Penge

After saving his DP World Tour playing rights at the 11th hour in 2024, Marco Penge has turned into one of the biggest powerhouses on the European circuit this year and has a legitimate shout to snatch one of the final picks in Team Europe.

Penge's incredible power off the tee would help him deal with the length of Bethpage Black, and two wins this year as well as a host of other top-10s adds up to form Luke Donald cannot ignore.

A lack of starts on the PGA Tour might count against Penge this time, but should he graduate to the US circuit in the Fall and then continue on a Harry Hall-like stretch in 2026 and beyond, the Englishman could easily be a part of future Ryder Cup rosters.

Aaron Rai

At various points over the past year or two, Aaron Rai has appeared destined to be a part of Team Europe at the upcoming Ryder Cup. A win at the 2024 Wyndham Championship and several little bursts of impressive form on the PGA Tour, plus made cuts in all four Majors this year, have proved that the Englishman could be an asset at Bethpage Black.

But a cooler stretch in 2025 overall and some concerning putting stats may mean that Rai has been overtaken by others in the pecking order. Should he win at the European Masters, that could be a significant boost to Rai's outside hopes of a captain's pick, though.

Nicolai Hojgaard

Despite being a part of the winning 2023 roster, Nicolai Hojgaard is far from guaranteed a place in the 2025 equivalent after a disappointing season on both sides of the pond.

He finished 18th in the European Ryder Cup rankings as a result of just three top-10s on the PGA Tour in 2025 - one of which came alongside his twin brother, Rasmus at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Having also secured just half a point from three matches at the 2023 Ryder Cup, Hojgaard might be taking his turn to watch on from the sidelines as Rasmus represents the family this time.