Smylie Kaufman shocked by one European player’s past record at the Ryder Cup ahead of Bethpage Black

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Smylie Kaufman has admitted that the Ryder Cup record of one member of the European team caught him by real surprise as Luke Donald’s men gear up to try and retain the trophy at Bethpage Black later this month.

With 11 of Luke Donald‘s lineup for Bethpage representing Europe two years ago, it is going to be difficult for the visitors to produce many aces from up their sleeves in New York. Keegan Bradley has little excuse not to have his homework done on his opponents.

But perhaps Team USA should not expect Donald to run everything back from Marco Simone when it comes to potential pairings.

In fact, one player who did not play in either foursomes session in Italy may be something of a secret weapon in a few weeks.

Smylie Kaufman stunned by European star’s Ryder Cup record

Justin Rose played such a crucial role for Europe in 2023. Donald paired the Englishman with Robert MacIntyre for both fourball sessions. Despite the Scot looking incredibly nervous on Friday, they went unbeaten in their two matches.

MacIntyre has been one of Europe’s best players this year. So it will be interesting to see what that means at Bethpage for the veteran, Rose.

Perhaps he could feature in the foursomes for the first time since 2018, with Smylie Kaufman telling The Smylie Show that he was taken aback by the 45-year-old’s record in that format as he discussed some of Europe’s star names.

“You teed me up a little bit on players like Tommy Fleetwood. I think most people will remember the Francesco Molinari pairing that those two had and how well they played over in Paris. But I was amazed too at Tommy Fleetwood’s record in the Ryder Cup. 7-3-2 is ridiculous. It’s hard to get points in Ryder Cups, and Tommy Fleetwood is a player who’s been able to step in early, have success and been able to carry it over Ryder Cup to Ryder Cup, whether it was home or away. Now, he was 0-1-2 at Whistling, but earning half a point in two matches was actually pretty good for that European side that year. There was not many points to go around,” he said.

“But he’s 4-0 in foursomes which is an incredibly difficult format. And he’s also 2-0 with Rory. Rory’s had a multitude of partners. The ones he’s had most success with, actually shocking, Thomas Pieters, he was 3-0 with Thomas Pieters.

“Rory potentially has a foursomes partner in Tommy Fleetwood, so there’s a team right there. And then, Justin Rose was a huge surprise to me when I looked at his foursomes record. 7-2-1.

“He didn’t play foursomes back in Rome, but still, that’s an incredible asset to have in your back pocket if you feel like a guy isn’t quite in form, maybe in practice.”

How Justin Rose has performed in foursomes in his Ryder Cup career

Rose has had four different partners over the years, with Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson the men who have stood alongside him most frequently.

He has also made appearances in the foursomes with the likes of Martin Kaymer and Chris Wood.

Rose is not as consistent as he was at the peak of his powers, which may put Donald off using him in the foursomes. But he remains a world-class performer, having won the FedEx St. Jude Championship just last month.

So if Donald does decide to change things up in that opening session, perhaps Rose should be the leading candidate to come in.