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USA Ryder Cup team profiles / Photo: Andreas SOLARO - AFP
USA Ryder Cup team profiles
Zach Johnson leads the USA into the 2023 Ryder Cup trying to break a three-decade winless run on European soil after a record 19-9 win at Whistling Straits two years ago.
Here, AFP Sport takes a look at the American team for the 44th edition of the event at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club:
Scottie Scheffler
World ranking: 1
Previous Ryder Cup appearance: 2021
Ryder Cup record (wins, losses, halves): 2-0-1
-- Scheffler comes into his second Ryder Cup as the world's top-ranked player after racking up 14 top-10 finishes in total this year and winning The Players Championship back in March.
Patrick Cantlay
World ranking: 5
Previous Ryder Cup appearance: 2021
Ryder Cup record: 3-0-1
-- An eight-time winner on the PGA Tour, Cantlay has begun to fulfil the promise he showed as the world's best amateur a decade ago. The 31-year-old, who has been criticised for slow play, won the FedEx Cup in 2021 and was named PGA Tour player of that year.
Xander Schauffele
World ranking: 6
Previous Ryder Cup appearance: 2021
Ryder Cup record: 3-1-0
-- Schauffele said that USA would need "nothing special" to win in the Italian capital, a comment which Luke Donald will no doubt use to fire up his Europe team. The 29-year-old has never won a major but is the reigning Olympic champion after claiming gold in Tokyo three years ago.
Max Homa
World ranking: 7
Rookie
-- One of four Ryder Cup rookies in the USA Ryder Cup team, Homa is an in-form player after winning the Farmers Insurance Open this season and finishing in the top 10 in 12 other tournaments.
Brian Harman
World ranking: 9
Rookie
-- Harman is playing in his first ever Ryder Cup at the age of 36 after a phenomenal year in which he won his first major -- and second ever tournament -- at the British Open. He was a huge outsider for that win as he has been for much of his otherwise undistinguished career.
Wyndham Clark
World ranking: 10
Rookie
-- Reigning US Open champion Clark is making his first appearance at the Ryder Cup, capping a breakout year in which he pipped Rory McIlroy to the American major title by one shot just a month after claiming his first tour win at the Wells Fargo Championship.
Jordan Spieth
World ranking: 12
Previous Ryder Cup appearances: 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021
Ryder Cup record: 8-7-3
-- Spieth, who welcomed his second child into the world last week, is a three-time major championship winner but has had an inconsistent year. The 30-year-old is the jointly most experienced Ryder Cup player on the USA team along with Rickie Fowler.
Brooks Koepka
World ranking: 17
Previous Ryder Cup appearances: 2016, 2018, 2021
Ryder Cup record: 6-5-1
-- The only LIV Golf rebel playing on either team, Koepka won this year's PGA Championship and finished joint second at the Masters. Despite defecting from the PGA Tour last year the 33-year-old former world number one was selected for the USA team as a wildcard by skipper Johnson due to his performances in majors.
Collin Morikawa
World ranking: 19
Previous Ryder Cup appearance: 2021
Ryder Cup record: 3-0-1
-- Morikawa has already won the British Open and the PGA Championship in his relatively young career and is also the only American to ever win the European Tour's Race to Dubai. The 26-year-old has the second longest streak of consecutive cuts from professional debut in PGA Tour history at 22, second only to Tiger Woods.
Sam Burns
World ranking: 20
Rookie
-- Burns made pre-tournament headlines when he decided to have his hair cut into a mullet and have "USA" shaved into the side of his head. The 27-year-old also has decent credentials for the Ryder Cup on his debut as he won this year's WGC World Match Play.
Justin Thomas
World ranking: 24
Previous Ryder Cup appearances: 2018, 2021
Ryder Cup record: 6-2-1
-- Two-time PGA Championship winner Thomas is one of Johnson's more controversial picks as the 30-year-old has had an uninspiring 2023, missing five cuts in 20 events and only finishing in the top 10 in four. Thomas does however have an excellent Ryder Cup record and beat Europe star McIlroy in the singles in 2018.
Rickie Fowler
World ranking: 25
Previous Ryder Cup appearances: 2010, 2014, 2016, 2018
Ryder Cup record: 3-7-5
-- Fowler is on the up after a couple of seasons in the doldrums, claiming his eighth tour win -- and first in four years -- in July at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Swing coach Butch Harmon said last week that Fowler shot 14 birdies and four pars in tune-up event at Medalist Gold Club, and the Americans will need that kind of hot form in Italy.
S.Clark--SMC
