5 Dream Ryder Cup Pairings We'd Love to See

Combine the significance of a major championship with the fervor of a pep rally and it yields one of the best weekends on the biennial golf schedule: The Ryder Cup.

Twelve-man teams representing the U.S. and Europe will converge at Bethpage Black on Long Island for the three-day event, which includes pairings squaring off on Friday and Saturday before a Sunday reserved for a dozen singles matches.

Europe won the 2023 competition at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Italy, and the guys from across the pond have won five of the last seven overall, too.

Captains Keegan Bradley (U.S.) and Luke Donald (Europe) will go public with the 2025 pairings on Wednesday at 4 p.m., which put the B/R golf squad into speculation mode while considering which duos would have the most impact and be the most fun.

Past Ryder Cup performances were among the factors considered, along with how the players would interact in such a pressure-sopped environment. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.

Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas

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More than anything, this one is based on who can handle the moment.

Both DeChambeau and Thomas are two-time major champions and enthusiastic guys, which is the ideal blend for success in the unique Ryder environment.

They'll slap hands, pump fists and interact with the home-country crowd, while not ignoring the work to be done. Thomas has played to great results with Jordan Spieth in past years but needs a new sidekick with Spieth not on the roster this time.

DeChambeau, meanwhile, played for the U.S. in 2018 and 2021 and shared space with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Scottie Scheffler. He had his best results with Scheffler, going 1-0-1 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood

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Now 36 years old, McIlroy is a career Grand Slam champion who's evolved into an elder statesman among the Europeans, having played with three 2025 teammates at past Ryder competitions.

He's had his greatest moments, though, with Fleetwood, going 2-0 in foursome play in the 2023 event in Italy. Fleetwood has made a gradual climb to the top of the world leaderboard this season, which he ended ranked No. 7 in the world following a win at the Tour Championship in August.

They get along and they're into the intensity of the event, too, which suggests they'll play well and be entertaining to watch. More than anything, we're just hoping they draw DeChambeau for one of the sessions, given the genuine enmity shared by him and McIlroy that was recently fueled by their final-round pairing at The Masters.

"I'll be chirping in (McIlroy's) ear this time," DeChambeau told People in July. "Now, if we go up against each other, I mean, you can be sure of it."

Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley

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Where other pairings are noted for personalities, we'll suggest this one based on its track record and the mere presence of the world's most dominant player.

Scheffler won six times amid 17 top-10 tournament finishes this season and won a foursomes competition alongside DeChambeau at the 2021 Ryder event before cratering with Brooks Koepka two years later.

He's got some history with the lower-profile Henley, who's ranked third in the world after 10 top-10 finishes of his own in 2025. The pair won two matches together at the Presidents Cup event in 2024 and are the sort of steady, accurate players that the U.S. will need to pile up points heading into Sunday's singles free for all.

That's the hope of domestic fans anyway, given that Henley is one of four first-time participants on the 2025 team.

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton

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Sometimes, it's just about guys you'd want to hang out with.

Such is the case with Europeans Rahm and Hatton, who've seen their world rankings plummet due to their allegiances with LIV Golf, but whose combined resume (35 professional wins, 2-0-1 record as Ryder foursome teammates) speaks for itself.

They're great players, guys who embrace the moment, and, according to Hatton, friends who aren't shy about hoisting a glass or two together either.

"I'd like to think that we would celebrate pretty well (if Europe retains the Ryder Cup), and there is a good chance I will be throwing up," he told The Independent. "But yeah, hopefully I'm not like falling asleep and I can enjoy most of the night with everyone."

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele

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No players on the 2025 U.S. team have worked together more often than Cantlay and Schauffele, who've paired up at three Presidents Cups, the 2021 Ryder Cup and twice at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, the only dual event on the PGA Tour.

So it makes perfect sense from a competitive standpoint.

But that's not all. Because, well...there's HatGate, Part II.

Cantlay and Schauffele have agreed to donate all of their individual compensation for playing this weekend—$500,000 apiece—to charity to help dull the noise created at the 2023 event in Italy when Cantlay didn't wear a U.S. team cap.

He said it was a sizing issue. Others insisted it was his way of protesting that U.S. players were not being paid to participate. Regardless, the aim is to make it more about golf and less about headgear this time around.

"The US guys are 100 percent focused on playing the best possible golf they can," Cantlay said. "I know it means a great deal to them to show up this week and perform."