While American fans may not agree, last year’s event in Rome showed the beauty of the Ryder Cup format with not one player on the USA team outside the top 25 in the world rankings heading into that week at Marco Simone.
Of course, matchplay tends to offer more scope for the apple cart to be upset. Ultimately, one player does not need to be at their very best across the day to win a crucial match. And with that, the Ryder Cup has thrown up all sorts of surprises over the years.
With that in mind, here are five of the biggest shocks the Ryder Cup has seen since the turn of the century…
Five biggest Ryder Cup shocks since 2000
Phillip Price defeats Phil Mickelson 3&2 (2002)
One of the reasons Europe’s 2002 win was so impressive was the fact that a number of their players had fallen drastically down the world rankings by the time the two teams met at The Belfry. Of course, the matches had been scheduled for 2001 before being postponed by a year due to the September 11th terrorist attacks. A decision was made to keep the same teams for the following year.
Phillip Price was therefore, the world number 119 when he faced Phil Mickelson in the Sunday singles. The Welshman had lost his one match that week before the final day. Nevertheless, he claimed victory against the world number two on the 16th hole to claim a priceless point for Sam Torrance’s side in their 15.5-12.5 win
Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley defeat Sergio Garcia and Luke Donald 4&3 (2012)
Jose Maria Olazabal should have known that it would be an uphill battle for his team when Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia were beaten in the opening session at Medinah. The pair had not lost in a combined 15 foursomes match in their Ryder Cup careers before facing the new pairing Mickelson and Keegan Bradley. But the Americans ripped up the formbook with the most dominant victory on Friday morning.
Almost as surprising was their 7&6 demolition of Donald and Lee Westwood on Saturday morning. What could have been had Davis Love III not rested the pair later that day.
Thorbjorn Olesen defeats Jordan Spieth 5&4 (2018)
Many may have expected Thorbjorn Olesen to play a prominent role at the 2018 Ryder Cup with countryman Thomas Bjorn the European captain. And the Dane was indeed sent out alongside Rory McIlroy in the opening session of the week at Le Golf National.
However, Olesen essentially paid the price for McIlroy playing extremely poorly in that session. Olesen sat out the rest of the week until the singles, so it looked as though he only had a slim chance against three-time major champion Jordan Spieth.
But Olesen would win 5&4 – the joint-biggest win Europe would have all day – to put them within three points of victory.
Scottie Scheffler defeats Jon Rahm 4&3 (2021)
It feels strange to label Scottie Scheffler beating Jon Rahm one of the biggest shocks the Ryder Cup has seen in the last 20 years. However, the golfing landscape was a little different at Whistling Straits in 2021.
Rahm was the world number one while Scheffler was the lowest ranked American player and still awaiting his first PGA Tour win. So it was a real statement of intent that Scheffler claimed victory in the third match on Sunday.
Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg defeat Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka 9&7 (2023)
Unfortunately for Scheffler, his win over Rahm in 2021 is not his final appearance on this list. He was involved in a piece of history in 2023 when he was on the receiving end of the heaviest defeat in Ryder Cup history.
Alongside Brooks Koepka, he was beaten 9&7 by Viktor Hovland and rookie Ludvig Aberg. The Americans were utterly woeful while Hovland and Aberg could seemingly not put a foot wrong. Scheffler was visibly emotional shortly after the match as he came to terms with what exactly had happened for the two teams to shake hands on the 11th green.
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