Rory McIlroy feels the majority of the players selected in Europe’s Ryder Cup team are now “more accomplished” than they were when they beat Team USA in Rome two years ago.
Luke Donald was the European captain when they toppled the Americans 16.5-11.5 on Italian soil – and he has been tasked with taking the reins once again in the United States.
The two teams are set to lock horns later this month, with the 2025 Ryder Cup taking place at Bethpage Black in New York from September 26-28.
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Donald selected his 12-man team for the challenge earlier this week, picking 11 of the 12 players who routed the USA in Rome.
Team Europe vs Team USA: Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Højgaard, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jon Rahm.
The only change sees Rasmus Højgaard replacing twin brother Nicolai – and Ryder Cup talisman McIlroy, who relishes battles with Americans, feels they have all improved their games over the last two years.
The Northern Irishman, who won the 2025 Masters at Augusta in April after beating European team-mate Rose in a play-off, told Sky Sports: “I love the team that Luke has assembled.
“It’s a very strong 12 players and I think it’s the right 12 players.”
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Stronger than Rome
When asked to compare the current team to the one that did business in Rome, McIlroy stated: “You could certainly make that case [that the players are stronger than in Rome]. You could argue that pretty much every player is more accomplished than two years ago.
“Someone like Bob MacIntyre has won a couple times on the PGA Tour and had a chance to win the US Open.
“I think when we went to Rome, you had some guys that were purely foursome players, some guys were purely fourball players. I think now we have more flexibility within that 12.”
History is against the Europeans, though, as no away side has emerged victorious since the memorable ‘Miracle at Medinah’ back in 2012 – when Donald played a starring role as Jose Maria Olazabal’s Europe team stormed to a famous win on a dramatic final day of singles.
In the end, there’s no place like home when it comes to the Ryder Cup, where the host team has a huge advantage thanks to the support from an often partisan crowd.
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Crowd of favours
On the task facing the visitors, McIlroy added: “There’s a reason every Ryder Cup for the last 10 years has gone to the home team. They have a big advantage from the set-up of the course to how partisan the crowd is.
“But I think the Europeans have a wonderful opportunity this year to achieve something very, very special – but it’s going to be very difficult.
“Make no mistake, we know we’re up against it. We know we’ve got a tall task on our hands.
“They have a very strong team. They’re going to have a pretty raucous crowd on their side and on a golf course that a lot of them know pretty well from previous tournaments.”
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Adam Peaker 
Newsjustnews writers 
Carmela Calling