The United States have some concerns heading into the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black while Team Europe seem to be far more settled.
However, that doesn’t mean that European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald doesn’t have any pressing concerns of his own ahead of the showdown with Team USA at Bethpage Black.
The 45th edition of the Ryder Cup is expected to be one of the most evenly matched contests in the history of the competition.
Donald is well aware of how strong the US Ryder Cup team is, and he’ll know that winning away from home will be a tall order, especially with a vociferous New York crowd awaiting him and his players.
Keegan Bradley will have some concerns about some of his Ryder Cup players, with the likes of Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa out of form right now.
That said, the Europeans have some issues of their own, with two players in particular struggling for form right now and one a poor fit for Bethpage Black.
Donald will unquestionably be hoping for big improvements from those three players over the course of the next few weeks.
Three European players Luke Donald should be worried about at the Ryder Cup
Donald named his six captain’s picks on Monday and all three of the players he should be concerned about were included in the Englishman’s selections.
First up, we have Shane Lowry.
A proven winner, the 38-year-old will be a key member of the European team, especially in the locker room, what with his jovial personality and infectious optimism.
However, the Irishman has been in really poor form over the past few months, after he was pipped to the Truist Championship trophy by Sepp Straka.
Lowry has been uncharacteristically off the boil during big tournaments since May and he has cut an extremely frustrated figure out on the golf course at times.
He ranked 131st in driving distance and 46th in driving accuracy on the PGA Tour this season. That’s not a great combination and it certainly isn’t conducive to achieving success around a golf course like Bethpage Black.
Next up is the aforementioned Straka. Despite a stellar 2025 PGA Tour campaign on the whole, the 32-year-old Austrian finished off the season in very poor form.
He recorded just one top-10 during his final six events of the season, with a T-17 at the FedEx St Jude Championship his next best finish.
Aside from his form, Straka missed the BMW Championship due to a ‘private family matter’ and he is the only European Ryder Cup team member not playing at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth next week.
There are definitely justifiable concerns about Straka’s game in general right now, whilst it remains unclear as to how he is faring mentally.
Viktor Hovland’s driving could be a weak link for Team Europe at the Ryder Cup
The hugely popular Viktor Hovland could be someone who really struggles at Bethpage.
Hovland has admitted himself that his driving has been really poor this season, suggesting that he has been struggling to figure out what his problem actually is with the big stick.
The Norwegian was ranked 76th in strokes gained on the PGA Tour off the tee this season, 85th in driving distance and 42nd in accuracy.
The issues he has with his driver could prove to be extremely problematic at Bethpage later this month.
However, there is, of course, still just over three weeks to go before the Ryder Cup begins, so there is plenty of time for Hovland to address his driving woes and Lowry and Straka to find some form.
There are some big tournaments to come before then as well, including the Irish Open and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Donald will be hoping that all 12 of his Ryder Cup players are raring to go when the Ryder Cup starts in 24 days’ time.
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