Ryder Cup Day 2 Power Rankings

Saturday gave us golf fans a déjà vu feeling, as once again we watched Europe dominate team match play, building their lead heading into the final day at 11.5–4.5. So far, Europe has looked very comfortable on U.S. soil, crashing New York like Ellis Island just reopened(had to put the history pun in as a teacher).

As the United States continued to look powerless against Europe’s putting barrage, the crowd began to show its frustrations with multiple tense moments boiling over with Shane Lowry & Rory McIlroy. But the tension wasn’t just between fans and players. The marquee afternoon matchup of Tommy Fleetwood/Justin Rose vs. Scottie Scheffler/Bryson DeChambeau nearly came to blows walking off the 15th green. Scheffler & DeChambeau, supposed to be America’s one-two punch, have only managed one point so far...going a combined 1–7. Their frustration showed today, though Scottie looks very disinterested at this point, and is in danger of falling to 0-5 with a loss tomorrow.

Though America overall did show better play today. Cameron Young & Bryson were the lone bright spot in the morning session, boat-racing Ludvig Åberg & Matt Fitzpatrick. They then continued their hot play into the afternoon, but it just wasn’t enough to even salvage a half-point in two separate matches. All four afternoon matches were much tighter, somehow Europe still went 3–1 again closing out strong, leading to a 6–2 day overall.

So who were the stars of Saturday?

Fleetwood & Rose were the clear 1–2 punch, though McIlroy & Jon Rahm aren’t far behind. The Europeans rightfully hold the top four spots far above the rest. The first American cracking the top five has to then be Cameron Young, the local boy. He’s been nails both days and is the lone American with 2 points to his name, which is an insane sentence no one could have predicted.

In the second tier of Saturday’s top players, we start with DeChambeau. Yes, a 1–3 record is disappointing, but he has played well, it’s just that Europe has played better. Behind him is Viktor Hovland, who was climbing the board with clutch play before a neck injury pulled him from the afternoon session. That’s really unfortunate because he was rolling in big putts all morning, including taking down the world’s #1. Then there’s gotta be Matt Fitzpatrick, who lost in the morning but was the better of the losing pair, and then basically willed his team to a gritty 1-up point in the afternoon.

At the bottom, you’ve got Shane Lowry surrounded by three Americans: Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, & J.J. Spaun. All three played well today and had some huge moments to keep their matches close, but once again, it wasn’t enough to bring home anything but one point. Spaun, though, should take this experience into 2026 and find continued success.

Does America need a miracle? Yes. Does that mean Sunday singles won’t be entertaining? Not one bit. We still get the best golfers in the world battling to prove they’re better than their counterparts. Possible matchups like Rory vs. Bryson (though Bryson might want Rose), Scheffler vs. Rahm, Young vs. Fleetwood, Thomas vs. Åberg, Hovland vs. Spaun, the list goes on. This may look like a runaway European Ryder Cup, but we still have the best in the world going head-to-head tomorrow, maybe for the last time until April 2026.

So before we complain about scores or points, let’s enjoy the matchups.