It’s finally here. After more than a decade of build-up, the 2025 Ryder Cup begins for real on Friday, the United States and Europe facing off in what genuinely can be considered the most anticipated golf event in the modern golf era. It’s not just the competitors involved—two star-laden teams that, on paper, feel very evenly matched—that has everybody buzzing. It’s where they’re competing: brawny Bethpage Black, a municipal course just down the road from New York City with a passionate following that will no doubt make itself heard over the next three days.
(Scroll down for the latest Ryder Cup 2025 live updates from our crew. Newest items at the top.)
Needless to say, we’re as excited as you are to get things started. The Golf Digest staff will be following all the action inside and outside the ropes, providing live updates with insights and commentary to help you enjoy this 45th edition of the match. Settle in and hang out with us on Day 1 for the latest score, news, highlights and analysis.
12:36 p.m.: Welcome to the Ryder Cup, J.J. Spaun! The U.S. Open champion plays his opening approach to perfection, hitting just short of the green and tumbling to about 3 feet. Jon Rahm’s approach rolled out about 20-25 feet past the hole, and Scheffler has about 15-20 feet below the hole, and Sepp Straka missing the green just short of it with this front pin position. This could be a huge early momentum boost for the Americans—exactly what they need.
12:30 p.m.: The afternoon fourballs session is underway! Jon Rahm and Sepp Straka both miss the fairway to the left with J.J. Spaun hitting it about 70 yards out on the right side and Scottie Scheffler missing the fairway left the widest of the four.
It really feels like this match is crucial for the Americans. Scheffler needs to avoid dropping two points to start things off and set the tone for a momentum-shifting afternoon session for the Americans, who typically thrive in the better-ball format.
11:58 a.m.: Here are the afternoon pairings for fourballs (best ball):
It’s perhaps a bit surprising to see Justin Thomas back out for the Americans after he struggled alongside Bryson DeChambeau in the opening match. But JT has the most experience for Team U.S., and we’ve seen him play a lot of practice rounds with Cam Young all week at Bethpage Black. So we’ll see how they can do against Ludvig Aberg, who played fantastic golf and will certainly be formidable in a better-ball format.
We’ll see if Scottie Scheffler can secure a point with a new partner, U.S. Open champion J.J. Spaun, after being weighed down from some very poor play by Russell Henley in the morning.
All four players who sat in the morning for each team will play in the afternoon. It’s also a bit surprising to see Tyrrell Hatton sit for the Europeans after he played great alongside Jon Rahm in the morning.
Things will get going around 12:25 p.m. eastern here at Bethpage Black.
11:53 a.m.: The Americans finally have their first full point in the final match of the morning foursomes with Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele winning, 2-up, winning the 17th and 18th holes to secure a crucial point and avoid a devastating 4-0 deficit. It’s officially 3-1 in favor of the Europeans after foursomes … a bit better than Rome but not exactly the start the Americans were looking for.
Per Justin Ray and Elias Sports, teams that win at least three points in the opening session of the Ryder Cup are 7-1 since 1991. The lone exception? 2018 … when the Europeans erased an early 3-1 deficit and swept the afternoon session to take a 5-3 lead. The Americans will be looking to do something similar this afternoon at Bethpage.
We will have the afternoon fourballs pairings announced shortly. Check here for the afternoon squads!
11:47 a.m.: Cantlay steps up and finds the fairway on the 18th hole, putting the pressure on Hovland, who sprays his tee shot way right into a poor lie. MacIntyre will need to chop it out of some thick hay onto the elevated putting surface. Xander can really put the pressure on here with a great angle and the Americans looking to hold onto this 1-up lead. He does just that—spinning his approach to about 9 feet.
Woof! Bobby Mac comes up welllll short of the green, but does find a greenside bunker. Hovland pretty much needs to hole this out to try to square this match with the Americans in close.
11:40 a.m.: Hovland did summon that short-game magic, hitting a beautiful bunker shot to about 6 feet, giving MacIntyre a chance to tie the hole after Cantlay’s birdie bid from above the hole comes up just shy. Wow, the Scot fails to convert the putt—giving the Americans a 1-up lead heading to the 18th tee. The U.S. secures at least a half point heading to the 18th hole, but Cantlay/Xander delivering a full point will be the turn in momentum their team needs heading into the afternoon fourballs session.
11:34 a.m.: Advantage to the Americans in the final match as Xander hits the green at the par-3 17th hole after MacIntyre found one of the menacing greenside bunkers surrounding the elevated putting surface on the one-shotter. Hovland will need to summon some short-game magic—not exactly his strength—if the Euros want to avoid falling down once again in the match. This has become a critical point for the Americans to avoid another devastating 4-0 deficit in opening foursomes.
11:27 a.m.: This is the first time we’ll see the 16th hole today—a nice downhill tee shot to a pretty flat green. Hovland and Cantlay both find the fairway—and Xander and MacIntyre have each hit approaches to about 10 feet.
Hovland’s uphill bid rolls just on the low side—and Cantlay does the same, missing on the low side. That was a big missed opportunity for Patty Ice to regain the lead. It’ll remain tied heading to the par-3 17th hole.
11:17 a.m.: Viktor Hovland converts the five-footer for par on the 15th hole to tie the match against Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele—who were in trouble off the tee. Par was always going to be a tough score after Xander’s tee shot. But this will be a devastating result for the Americans if Xander/Cantlay can’t deliver a point for the Americans. The U.S. are staring another 4-0 deficit in opening foursomes in the face—ala Rome.
11:11 a.m.: The lone bright spot thus far for the Americans has been Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, and they are holding on for dear life against Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland. The margin was as much as 3-up for the Americans until the Euros won the 12th and 13th holes.
Now Xander has hooked his drive off the 15th hole into oblivion. That is going to make the ultra-difficult uphill approach to the 15th green for Cantlay wherever they end up playing from. MacIntyre’s tee shot is in fine position in the left first cut … setting up Hovland to put the Euros in a position to square this match heading into the final three holes. Whoops … Hovland has come up short with his approach, which is a huge mistake. Cantlay, right next to the left grandstand, had his work cut out for him, and came up about 30 yards short of the green but avoids the greenside bunker. With a front pin position, that will be tricky for Xander.
10:43 a.m.: Europe grabs its third win when Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland close out Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley, 5 and 3. Gurantees Europe will win the morning session.
10:36 a.m.: The big deal about Europe coming out to a quick start is contextualized well by our Joel Beall here:
10:35 a.m.: Tommy Fleetwood closes out a 5-and-4 win with Rory McIlroy over Colin Morikawa and Harris English, giving Europe a 2-0 lead. Not coincidentally, the first “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole” cheer is ringing around the 14th green.
10:33 a.m.: Justin Thomas misses a par putt on the 15th green, giving Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton a 4-and-3 victory and the first point for Europe. If you’ve been watching you Live From the Ryder Cup, you’ll have heard Brandel Chamblee explain that 64 percent of the teams that win the first match go on to win the Ryder Cup.
10:20 a.m.: The chances of Scheffler and Henley coming back to win their match with Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick are the remotest of remote, but Henley just holed a 35-foot birdie putt. It could be an important pyschological boost for a man who has to be pretty bummed with how his first Ryder Cup appearance is going.
10:04 a.m.: Xander Schauffele holes a putt on the 10th and now he and Cantlay have a 2-up lead on Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland. However, it’s the only match the Americans are leading in and if form holds, Europe winning the morning session would mark the first time it’s done that on the road since 2004 at Oakland Hills.
9:37 a.m.: Back briefly to Scottie Scheffler. For the U.S. to win, you would naturally assume its best player would need to contribute as many points as possible. Granted, Scheffler has been hampered by the fact that Russell Henley seems to be the victim of rookie jitters. But this is starting to become a thing for American World No. 1 struggling in the Ryder Cup. Take a look at this tidbit from Justin Ray:
9:29 a.m.: OK … some good news finally for the U.S. Morikawa makes a birdie on the ninth hole to win the hole for the U.S. and cut the deficit Morikawa and Harris English have against Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood to 4 down. But this is the first hole the U.S. has won in any match in more than an hour.
9:27 a.m.: Patrick Cantlay misses a putt on the seventh green, giving Europe’s Robert MacIntyre and Viktor Hovland a win on the hole and allowing them to tie the match. So for the first time all morning, the U.S. is not ahead in any match.
9:16 a.m.: Our Dave Shedloski explored a touchy topic as we were previewing this week’s Ryder Cup when he wrote about Scottie Scheffler and his relationship with this competition. Scheffler’s results during the PGA Tour season have been as close to similar to Tiger Woods’ as any player since Tiger’s heyday. But Tiger struggled in the Ryder Cup, unable to take his super intense approach to the game and make it work in a team competition. Scheffler played well in his Ryder Cup debut at Whistling Straits in 2021, but struggled in Rome when he had taken the mantle of the No. 1 player in the work. And now, in what seemed like an ideal pairing with Russell Henley, Scheffler once again is trailing in a team match and seeming to be off his game after losing the ninth hole to Ludvig Aberg and Matt Fitzpatrick to go 4 down at the turn.
9:10 a.m.: One of the most talked about storylines revolving around foursomes is matching players who can play a golf ball that might not be their everyday pellet but one they can use in conjunction with their partners. But because of the lift, clean and place rule in effect for balls in the fairway during this Friday morning foursomes session, that issue isn’t quite as important. Under the Rules of Golf, you’re allowed to replace a ball when you lift, clean and place it. So if you’re lucky enought to be in that spot, you can now switch to the ball that the person hitting the shot would be playing. Our equipment editor, E. Michael Johnson, explores this more with this post here.
8:54 a.m.: Things are getting dangerous for the U.S. The first three matches are all leaning Europe: 1 up, 3 up and 4 up. McIlroy and Fleetwood, otherwise known as Fleetwood Mac, are flying high, sinking seemingly everything. Morikawa, on the other hand, takes a long look at the green after another dropped hole. Certainly not the start Keegan Bradley envisioned.
8:43 a.m.: JT misses yet another putt to the left, and Bryson/JT lose their early lead on No. 7. The red will go off the board in that opening matchup and Thomas cannot make things work on the green … at least just yet.
8:31 a.m.: Both European pairs leading are now 2 up with the Americans 1 up each. A glimpse around Bethpage: Rahm hits it into the trees on No. 7, Åberg birdies off of a perfect Fitzy approach, Rory sinks a seven-foot putt and Schauffele/Cantlay head over to No. 3.
8:23 a.m.: Schauffele and Cantlay take an early lead, splitting the matches at the moment 2-2. On No. 6, Jon Rahm hits one of the most impressive shots we’ve seen in some time, a recovery shot that somehow gets closer than the Americans. It doesn’t get much better than that.
8:14 a.m.: Oh, wow. Tyrrell Hatton hits it left and then left some more on No. 6. Even the fans standing over the ball seem to have trouble finding it. Åberg and Fitzy take the lead and Morikawa hits a crucial putt to maintain the 1-up lead through 3. Will be interesting to see if Rahm can save Hatton’s brutal tee shot.
8:09 a.m.: Schauffele botches a dynamite chance to go 1 up on the first hole. Fourth match stays tied after the opening hole. Everything else remains the same, at this point.
8:01 a.m.: All the foursomes on the course right now as Schauffele/Cantlay and MacIntyre/Hovland tee off at Bethpage. At the moment, the Americans are 1 up in the first group, the Europeans 1 up in the third group. Everything else all square. We’re in for quite the day.
7:50 a.m.: The Americans get it back to even with a clean putt from the World No. 1 following a perfect approach from Henley. By the way, Collin Morikawa/Harris English have begun their match against Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood. It’s all happening right now.
McIlroy and Fleetwood will take an early lead after Rory finishes off the first hole. Just under four feet and a quick for the Europeans in the third group.
7:49 a.m.: Still room to improve when it comes to fist bumps for the U.S.
7:39 a.m.: Åberg and Fitzpatrick will go 1 up after an incredible approach shot from Fitzy. Concurrently, DeChambeau and Rahm miss the green on No. 3. The Europeans will get a break, too, after an embedded ball just misses the par-3 bunker.
Harry How
Huge par save for the Americans after a decent chance for Hatton and Rahm to knot things up. Bryson’s putt sneaks in, and U.S. holds onto its 1-up lead in the first group. They remain 1 down with Scheffler and Henley.
7:31 a.m.: Rahm pulls his shot a little after a perfect Bryson chip. Although still on the green, the Europeans will need a great putt and a little luck to not go 2 down. JT will have a chance for birdie.
Second group gets started, as well. Scheffler & Henley will take on Åberg and Fitzpatrick. And then, JT pulls an incredible opportunity for birdie and to go 2 up. The Americans at No. 2 ready to roar will have to wait just a little bit more.
7:22 a.m.: What a first hole from Bryson. A 344-yard opening tee shot and a pressure putt to go 1 up early, after the Rahm and Hatton par. We’re moving on to the 377-yard No. 2 with JT finding the center of the fairway.
7:12 a.m.: The Americans go crazy as Rahm’s opening tee shot finds the rough on the right side of the fairway. Bryson, on the other hand, puts everything behind his and finds himself just short of the green. Great shot for the Americans to take the first hole. Walking around Bethpage yesterday, it was clear that Bryson’s a fan favorite; it makes sense to put him in the first group and get the energy as high as possible.
Tyrrell Hatton lucks out with a heavy shot that nearly fell short of the green. Gets a good bounce and 20 feet left for birdie. Then, JT doesn’t fully capitalize on the look Bryson gave him. The American fans have already begun chirping, as well.
7:08 a.m.: Jon Rahm has a perfect 4-0 record in foursomes, heading into this morning. But, on the other hand, Bryson and JT just walked out draped in the American flag, so it’s anyone’s match. We’re still unsure who’ll be teeing off first, but it feels like a Bryson Bomb would make the most sense … at least for showmanship.
6:55 a.m.: Well, we’re here. Rahm/Hatton vs. Bryson/JT about to kick off and the fans (on both sides) are already showing up in droves for the opening tee shots. Music’s blasting, chants have begun and the pros are psyching themselves up for a critical Day 1 at Bethpage.
6:36 a.m.:With 15 minutes remaining until the first match tees off, here are a few posts from this week to get you caught up on everything.
•Ryder Cup 101: Everything you need to know about this year’s match
•Power Rankings: Breaking down all 24 players competing at Bethpage Black
•How to watch the Ryder Cup: TV listings, Viewer’s Guide, Tee Times & more
•What’s the deal with players being paid to play the Ryder Cup? A Q&A
•Will Bethpage be a breaking point for fan behavior?
6:25 a.m.:OK … let’s set the scene quickly for the morning foursomes matches. Here’s the four pairings:
Foursomes7:10 a.m.: Jon Rahm/Tyrrell Hatton (Europe) vs. Bryson DeChambeau/Justin Thomas (USA)
7:26 a.m.: Ludvig Aberg/Matt Fitzpatrick (E) vs. Scottie Scheffler/Russell Henley (USA)
7:42 a.m.: Rory McIlroy/Tommy Fleetwood (E) vs. Collin Morikawa/Harris English (USA)
7:58 a.m.: Robert MacIntyre/Viktor Hovland (E) vs. Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay (USA)
6:18 a.m.: Suffice it to say, the fans have arrived.
