Ryder Cup B-Teams – 12 Next USA And European Players

Five days after Team USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley confirmed his wildcards for the Bethpage Black match, European counterpart Luke Donald named his six captain’s picks, meaning the identities of the 12 players on each team are now confirmed.

Bradley selected Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns to complete his team alongside automatic qualifiers Scottie Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau.

For the Europeans, automatic qualifiers Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Hojgaard and Tyrrell Hatton will be joined by Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland, Sepp Straka and Matt Fitzpatrick.

As usual, completing the line-ups was far from an easy task for the two captains, with plenty of outstanding candidates on both teams, and some top-quality players inevitably missing out.

But who would make up the Ryder Cup B-teams? Let’s have a look at the likely 12 next Team USA and Team Europe players.

Team USA

One of the big talking points ever since he was appointed captain was whether Keegan Bradley would make the team.

At the beginning, he suggested he'd only play if he qualified automatically, but as time went on, his form remained so strong that there was a compelling argument for him to pick himself as a wildcard.

In the end, he didn't, reasoning that: "Ultimately I was chosen to do a job. I was chosen to be a captain of this team and my ultimate goal was to be the best captain I could be and this is how I felt I could do this."

Of all the players to miss out, surely Maverick McNealy can feel the most unfortunate, having placed 10th in the team rankings and made the Tour Championship. The two-time Walker Cup player will hope the 2027 match at Adare Manor will mark his Ryder Cup debut.

Brian Harman can't have been far away from a pick, having played in 2023, emerging with a 2-2-0 record. He also won the Valero Texas Open and finished 12th in the team rankings, making him a certainty for the B-team.

Andrew Novak finished ahead of Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay, and Sam Burns in the team rankings, meaning he'd be an easy pick for the B-team, while there'd surely be room for Wyndham Clark, too, who played in 2023 but has endured a frustrating season.

Chris Gotterup was being spoken of as a potential Ryder Cup rookie after pipping Rory McIlroy to the Genesis Scottish Open title and finishing third at The Open. In the end, it didn't convince Bradley, but he's shown enough this year for a place in the hypothetical reserve 12.

Another player who found some excellent form later in the season was Kurt Kitayama, including victory at the 3M Open. Like Gotterup, he'll have to wait for a maiden Ryder Cup appearance, but the World No.34 would surely be in the next 12.

Akshay Bhatia hasn't won on the PGA Tour this year, but he's been in good form and placed a creditable T13 at the Tour Championship on his way to finishing 19th in the team rankings.

If a next 12 was named, the 23-year-old would surely be a strong contender as one to watch for future Ryder Cup teams.

Rickie Fowler made his sixth Ryder Cup appearance in 2023 off the back of a brilliant PGA Tour season that included winning the Rocket Mortgage Classic. His form hasn't been as good since, although there was an uptick in recent months, suggesting he still has what it takes to make the next 12.

Another player with vast Ryder Cup experience is Jordan Spieth. It will seem strange he is not involved in 2025 - the first time he won't have played in the Ryder Cup since 2012 - but even with some indifferent form, he'd be a shoo-in for the B-team.

Another player who was involved two years ago is Max Homa, and he performed well, too, with a 3-1-1 record.

He also won all four of his matches at last year's Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal.

Some horrendous form put paid to his chances of a spot in Bradley's team, but his recent US team record suggests he'd make the back-up 12.

While Bryson DeChambeau is the only LIV Golfer in the US team, another from the circuit, Patrick Reed, would surely have a strong claim to make the next 12, particularly after winning in Dallas earlier in the year, and with three previous Ryder Cup appearances.

Team Europe

In the end, Luke Donald's wildcard picks were relatively straightforward, with all six having played for him at the 2023 match, but one player who was particularly unfortunate to miss out was Matt Wallace.

He placed 12th in the team rankings, but it wasn't quite enough for a place - a situation he appeared to be aware of after finishing T2 at the Omega European Masters, when he became emotional before declaring: "I'll never give up on the Ryder Cup."

Two LIV Golfers will be in Donald's European side, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, but you surely couldn't leave out another, Sergio Garcia, from the B-team. He's the Ryder Cup record points scorer, and had rejoined the DP World Tour in a bid to make the team.

A run of poor form ended that dream, but he'd be one of the first names in the second 12.

Thomas Detry won the WM Phoenix Open on the way to placing 13th in the team rankings, but while that wasn't enough to convince Donald to hand him a Ryder Cup wildcard, it would likely be enough to get him into the B-team.

Finishing between 14th and 17th in the team rankings are four more players who would likely be in contention for the next 12 - Marco Penge, Aaron Rai, Jordan Smith and Harry Hall.

Ahead of the wildcard picks, Penge had three DP World Tour top-10 finishes in a row, including victory in the Danish Golf Championship.

Meanwhile, Rai made the FedEx Cup Playoffs before bowing out at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

Smith has been runner-up twice on the DP World Tour this season and is in line for a PGA Tour card because of his Race to Dubai ranking , while Hall finished T17 in the Tour Championship after a spell where he had been mentioned as a potential for Donald's team.

Another in the running for a PGA Tour card is Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan, who has produced several excellent DP World Tour performances this season, including victory at the Soudal Open.

PGA Tour pro Stephan Jaeger would also be a worthy contender for the B-team after a season with three top-10 finishes and making the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Alex Noren was a Ryder Cup winner in 2018, but his title at the Betfred British Masters came too late for the 2025 team. Still, with his experience and solid recent form, he'd surely make the next 12.

There was just one change to Donald's line-up from 2023, with Rasmus Hojgaard qualifying automatically at the expense of his brother Nicolai. Given that, the unlucky Dane would surely make the B-team.

Laurie Canter is having an excellent season on the DP World Tour, with a highlight being victory in the Bahrain Championship. It wasn't enough to force his way into serious contention for a place on Donald's team, finishing 25th in the team rankings, but it may have been good enough for a place on the B-team.

Other Notable Names

In truth, a host of other US players could make a second US team, such is the embarrassment of riches on offer.

One is six-time PGA Tour winner Lucas Glover, who, incredibly, has never played in a Ryder Cup but remains a solid performer on the PGA Tour and placed 18th in the team rankings.

Tony Finau would also be a contender for the second 12 despite some poor form in recent months, while a player for the future is surely Max Greyserman, who is firmly inside the world's top 50.

Most other years, LIV Golf's Brooks Koepka would be one of the first names in Bradley's Ryder Cup team, but his form has been so poor in 2025 he may have struggled to make the next 12.

Billy Horschel, Sahith Theegala and Will Zalatoris would have also likely made at least the B-team were it not for injuries hitting their seasons.

Like the US players, several other Europeans could have forced their way onto the B-team.

Among them are LIV Golfers David Puig and Tom McKibbin, who finished 10th and 20th, respectively, in its season-long standings.

You could make a strong argument for Niklas Norgaard, too, who came 19th in the team rankings.

The likes of Matthieu Pavon, Rasmus Neergard-Petersen and Thorbjorn Olesen were also clearly in Donald's thoughts at some point, too, having played in the Team Cup, suggesting they'd be contenders for a B-team.

Meanwhile, Matti Schmid has had a good 2025, with three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour and a FedEx Cup appearance, indicating he wouldn't have been far away either.