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2021 Ryder Cup Player Ratings

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The U.S. recorded the biggest margin of victory in Ryder Cup history at Whistling Straits, dominating the European side all three days to win 19-9.

It was an incredible display by the U.S. youngsters and a chastening experience for Team Europe, with some veterans on the side likely to have competed in their final Ryder Cup.

Here we take a look at each player and rate their performance for the week at Whistling Straits.

U.S.

Patrick Cantlay: Three and a half points out of a possible four, as Patrick Cantlay continues to impress. Looks as calm and confident in his ability as anyone these days, and while his singles match against Shane Lowry was touted to be close, the 29-year-old bossed the Irishman. 9

Collin Morikawa: Perfect in team play, proving to be the ideal partner for both DJ and Cantlay, and his half a point against Europe’s best young gun in Viktor Hovland capped a top showing by the Californian. 8.5

Dustin Johnson: Perfection from DJ who went five for five in Wisconsin. Outstanding performance. 10

Bryson DeChambeau: Whether it was drives of over 400 yards or strutting off the first tee Sunday with a putter in hand, Bryson was at his very best last week. Dominated arguably the best Ryder Cup player in history in singles, and alongside his teammate Scheffler he was the only player who could deny World Number One Jon Rahm in team play. 9

Scottie Scheffler: There’s stepping up to the plate, and then there’s doing what Scottie Scheffler did over the weekend. Excelled in team action with Bryson DeChambeau, and then the rookie went out against the best player in the world and put him to the sword 4&3. Sensational performance. 9.5

Xander Schauffele: Phenomenal in team play, taking three points from a possible three and looks like he could partner anyone and get the best out of them. Suffered a hefty defeat in Sunday singles but had done his part brilliantly in forging the USA’s monstrous lead by then. 8

Harris English: Looked excellent alongside Tony Finau in taking down the Irish duo of McIlroy and Lowry on the opening day, but that was as good as it got for the 32-year-old who lost his Saturday fourball and Sunday single matches. 7

Daniel Berger: Another man who justified his Captain’s pick, ending the week with a winning record thanks to his single’s victory where he played the tricky anchor match. 8

Justin Thomas: Started slow but rode a wave of confidence bordering on arrogance and ended up delivering the goods. Played four times, and while he won just once in team play, JT’s crushing defeat of Tyrrell Hatton on Sunday was a statement win. 8

Jordan Spieth: Played four times and ended up on the winning side of those matches just the once. Earned half a point on Sunday, which means he’s still yet to taste victory in single’s RC action. 7

Brooks Koepka: Began the event with a nice win but struggled on Saturday, where he went 0-2 in team action. Stepped up on Sunday with a strong showing. Has the feel of a guy you’d dread to be paired against in singles play. 7.5

Tony Finau: Carbon copy of his partner Harris English’s week. 1-1 in team play, but couldn’t handle the Postman in Sunday’s singles. 7

Steve Stricker: From his captain picks to his pairings to the course setup, Steve Stricker got everything right when in the build-up to the event many had their doubts. Captained the most dominant Ryder Cup team ever. Enough said. 10

Europe

Matthew Fitzpatrick: Played three and lost them all. Has now played a total of five matches across two Ryder Cups and still hasn’t earned even half a point. Doesn’t look cut out for the competition. 3

Tommy Fleetwood: Fought hard but was only able to earn a point from his three matches in Wisconsin. Hard not to feel he was underplayed, particularly in foursomes where his omission both days raised some eyebrows. 4.5

Sergio Garcia: Another strong showing at the Ryder Cup for Sergio, who excelled alongside his fellow countryman Jon Rahm. Perfect in team play, but couldn’t handle Bryson on Sunday in a match that was more one-sided than anyone expected. 7.5

Tyrrell Hatton: Looked flat all week which was a surprise for a player that gets amped up quite often on Tour. Earned one and a half points in team play, but when Europe needed him on Sunday, he offered nothing as JT ran over the Englishman. Highlight was a stunning shot on 18 to earn half a point on Friday afternoon. 4.5

Paul Casey: Played four and lost four. Really poor performance from Casey, who despite his experience, looked out of his depth at times. 3

Rory McIlroy: Failed to contribute anything in three appearances in team play. Was bitterly disappointed in his performance in a very honest interview on Sunday. Did show up and perform admirably in singles action, but his assessment of his contribution over the week was correct; he needed to do much more. 4

Viktor Hovland: Didn’t play particularly poorly, but when you play all five matches and bring home just one point, it must go down as a big disappointment. Will learn a lot from his experience at his first Ryder Cup. 4

Shane Lowry: Trusted just the three times by his captain, Lowry delivered a great moment on Saturday on 18 to win his match, but that was as good as it got. Comfortably defeated in Sunday’s singles. 4.5

Jon Rahm: Showed he’s now the European leader with a strong display, particularly in team play. Earned three and a half points from a possible four over the first two days, which was a top, top display against this U.S. side. Ran out of gas on Sunday in a surprising upset. 7.5

Lee Westwood: Likely to be Westwood’s final Ryder Cup, and while he offered very little over the opening two days, it was nice to see him pick up a point, albeit a pretty meaningless one, on Sunday. 4.5

Bernd Wiesberger: A very tough debut at the Ryder Cup for Wiesberger, who went 0-3 in Wisconsin. You’d hope he’d be better for the experience. 3.5

Ian Poulter: Credit to Poulter, put him out in Sunday’s singles, and he’ll will himself to a point against anyone it seems. Sadly his days look numbered as a competitor at the event, however, as he looked miles off it in the team format. 4.5

Padraig Harrington: Didn’t get much right, offering himself fewer captain picks than his adversary, some odd pairings, and not picking Fleetwood for foursomes was a strange one. In his defence, if he had done everything perfectly, he’d still have been on the losing side. 4

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at gianni@golfwrx.com.

19th Hole

‘Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight’ – LPGA pro offers candid take following rough AIG Women’s Open finish

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An opening round of 77 left LPGA pro Jenny Shin with a mountain to climb at last week’s AIG Women’s Open.

However, fighting back with rounds of 69 and 67, Shin found herself six shots off the lead and just outside the top 10 heading into Sunday as she went in search of her first major victory.

Shin, who won the US Girls’ Junior at just 13, couldn’t back those rounds up on Sunday, though, and after playing her opening nine holes of the final round in level par, she then bogeyed three holes coming home to slip down the leaderboard and eventually finish T23.

Taking to X following the final round, Shin offered a frustrated and honest take on how she was feeling, posting: “Don’t think I’ll sleep well tonight. What a crappy way to finish.”

Shin has made 11 cuts in 13 starts on the LPGA Tour this season, but has been plagued by frustrating Sunday finishes throughout the year. Shin ranks 102nd on tour this year out of 155 for Round 4 scoring in 2025.

Miyu Yamashita won the 2025 AIG Women’s Open with a composed final round of 70 to win her first major of her career by two strokes.

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How a late golf ball change helped Cameron Young win for first time on PGA Tour

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Cameron Young won the Wyndham Championship on Sunday for his first victory on the PGA Tour.

Young dominated all weekend at TPC Sedgefield, running away from the pack to win by six strokes and put himself in contention for a Ryder Cup pick in September.

Ahead of the event, the 28-year-old switched to a Pro V1x prototype golf ball for the first time, following recent testing sessions with the Titleist Golf Ball R&D team.

Interestingly, Young played a practice round accompanied by Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Director of Tour Research & Validation, at TPC Schedule early last week with both his usual Pro V1 Left Dot ball and the new Pro V1x prototype.

Per Titleist, by the second hole Young was exclusively hitting shots with the Pro V1x prototype.

“We weren’t sure if he was going to test it this week, but as he was warming up, he asked to hit a couple on the range,” Pitts said. “He was then curious to see some shots out on the course.  Performance-wise, he was hitting tight draws everywhere. His misses were staying more in play. He hit some, what he would call ‘11 o’clock shots,’ where again he’s taking a little something off it. He had great control there.”

According to Titleist, the main validation came on Tuesday on the seventh hole of his practice round. The par 3 that played between 184 and 225 yards during the tournament called for a 5-iron from Young, or so he thought. Believing there was “no way” he could get a 6-iron to the flag with his Left Dot, Young struck a 5-iron with the Pro V1x prototype and was stunned to see the ball land right by the hole.

“He then hits this 6-iron [with the Pro V1x prototype] absolutely dead at the flag, and it lands right next to the pin, ending up just past it,” Pitts said. “And his response was, ‘remarkable.’ He couldn’t believe that he got that club there.”

Following nine holes on Tuesday and a further nine on Wednesday, Young asked the Titleist team to put the ProV1x balls in his locker. The rest, as they say, is history.

Check out Young’s winning WITB here.

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Rickie Fowler makes equipment change to ‘something that’s a little easier on the body’

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Rickie Fowler fired an opening round of one-under par on Thursday at the Wyndham Championship, as the Californian looks to make a FedEx Cup playoff push.

Fowler is currently 61st in the standings, so will need a strong couple of weeks to extend his season until the BMW Championship, where only the top 50 in the standings will tee it up.

Heading into the final stretch of the season, Fowler has made an equipment switch of note, changing into new iron shafts, as well as making a switch to his driver shaft.

The 36-year-old revealed this week that he has switched from his usual KBS Tour C-Taper 125-gram steel shafts to the graphite Aerotech SteelFiber 125cw shafts in his Cobra King Tour irons, a change he first put into play at last month’s Travelers Championship.

Speaking on the change to reporters this week, Fowler made note that the graphite shafts offer “something that’s a little easier on the body.”

“I mean, went to the week of Travelers, so been in for, I guess that’s a little over a month now. Something that’s a little easier on the body and seemed to get very similar numbers to where I was at. Yeah, it’s gone well so far.”

Fowler has also made a driver shaft change, switching out his Mitsubishi Diamana WB 73 TX for a UST Mamiya Lin-Q Proto V1 6 TX driver shaft in his Cobra DS-Adapt X, which he first implemented a couple of weeks ago at the John Deere Classic.

However, according to Fowler himself, the testing and potential changes are not done yet.

“Probably do some more testing in some different weight configurations with them once I get some time. Yeah, I feel like we’re always trying to search, one, to get better but are there ways to make things easier, whether that’s physically, mentally, whatever it may be. So yeah, I thought they were good enough to obviously put into play and looking forward to doing some more testing.”

Fowler gets his second round at TPC Sedgefield underway at 7.23 a.m ET on Friday.

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