The 45th edition of the Ryder Cup will be played at Bethpage Black (par 70, 7,352 yards, POA/Bentgrass greens) in Farmingdale, New York. The last Ryder Cup was held in Rome in 2023 and Team Europe defeated Team USA 16.5-11.5. Both teams this week will feature 12 players, with six players auto qualifying and six players being captains picks. Each player will compete in 1-5 matches depending on how their captains decide to use them throughout the Ryder Cup.
Each match won is worth one point and each match tied is worth half a point. The first team to reach 14.5 points wins and if Team USA and Team Europe finish in a 14-14 tie, Team Europe will retain the Ryder Cup as the defending champions. The Ryder Cup will begin Friday and for the first two days of this three-day match play event, there will be four foursome matches and four-ball matches. Then, the Ryder Cup will conclude with 12 single matches on Sunday.
Below, I have featured my two favorite bets for the Ryder Cup on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Cameron Young Top USA Debutant (+210)
Very few played better golf than Young to close out this past PGA TOUR season. In his final five starts, Young finished first, fifth, 11th, T4th and T9th, in that order, with that victory to begin this stretch coming at the Wyndham Championship in August, in which Young won by a whopping six strokes. During this span, Young has shot under par in 15 of his 20 rounds, including two rounds of 62 and when we compare the 24 Ryder Cup players’ last 24 rounds, Young ranks third in total strokes gained.
While the Wake Forest product’s tremendous play over the summer was the main reason he was one of Keegan Bradley’s captain picks for Team USA, Young’s history at Bethpage Black certainly was also a factor. As an amateur, Young won the 2017 Metropolitan PGA’s New York State Open at Bethpage Black and he closed the event with a six-under 64, which at the time, tied the course record at the famous par 70. On top of the winning experience at Bethpage Black, the New York-based crowd should be behind Young this week, as he grew up only about two hours away from Bethpage Black in Scarborough.
Young has dreamed of competing in this Ryder Cup in his home state and while this will be his first appearance in a Ryder Cup, he has been successful at match play tournaments in the past, with a 7-4 singles match record and a 1-1-1 team match record. Of the four debutants for Team USA, Young is in the best position to succeed this week and he is an awesome bet to be the top-scoring USA debutant at this attractive +210 price on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Matthew Fitzpatrick Under 1.5 Points (-135)
Fitzpatrick has notoriously struggled at the Ryder Cup, with an ugly 1-7 record at this event and that lone win came with Rory McIlroy as his partner in a four-ball match two years ago. Overall at match play events, Fitzpatrick is just 9-15-1 in single matches and 1-4 in team matches.
Fitzpatrick not being selected for the Team Europe roster this season wouldn’t have been shocking given his poor match play results, but captain Luke Donald still selected him after Fitzpatrick produced 10 top-25 finishes in 21 starts on the PGA TOUR this season. However, the Englishman never finished inside the top-three this season and he didn’t close his campaign in great form, finishing T32nd and T17th in his final two starts of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which ultimately led to Fitzpatrick not qualifying for the TOUR Championship at East Lake.
Fitzpatrick has since then posted three straight top-six finishes in Europe, but those were much weaker fields than he usually faces on the PGA TOUR and at courses much different from the challenge that awaits at Bethpage Black this week. This lengthy par 70 will favor bombers and Fitzpatrick is a short hitter who ranks 76th in SG OTT and 88th in driving distance on the PGA TOUR.
Fitzpatrick should struggle this week and backing him to record under 1.5 points is a smart move.
