Anyone who plays golf, even recreationally, knows all about the best- and worst-case scenarios so intrinsically attached to performance.
Maybe I’ll shoot my personal low score today… or maybe I’ll post something in the triple-digits. Maybe I’ll finally carry the water and reach that par-5 in two… or maybe I’ll need to buy a few extra sleeves of balls at the turn.
Such scenarios exist – on a much higher level, of course – for the game’s most elite players, as well. Any of them is capable of having a great day, or week, just as each of them has the potential to fizzle and fade when least expected.
With tongue firmly planted in cheek for a few of these, let’s break down the best- and worst-case scenarios for all 24 golfers competing in this week’s Ryder Cup.
United States
Sam Burns
Best-Case Scenario: After finishing 0-3-2 at last year’s Presidents Cup in his first professional team competition, Burns turns things around with buddy Scottie Scheffler and proves to U.S. captain Zach Johnson that he made the right move in adding Burns as a captain’s pick.
Worst-Case Scenario: Maybe he’s just snakebitten. He played better at Quail Hollow than that winless record would suggest and does the same at Marco Simone, but without points to show for it.
Patrick Cantlay
Best-Case Scenario: The PGA Tour leader in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee, Cantlay puts on an absolute driving exhibition for three days, hitting it both longer and straighter than any of his opponents while putting him in the driver’s seat to take control of every match.
Worst-Case Scenario: The introverted star becomes the embodiment of a team that never really seems to play with any fire or passion. American fans become ultra-critical that “we have too many guys like Cantlay,” an admonition which can’t help but ring true.
Wyndham Clark
Best-Case Scenario: One of the breakthrough performers of 2023, the reigning U.S. Open champion looks nothing like a rookie as he stone-facedly marches his way down the fairways like he’s playing a Tuesday practice round.
Worst-Case Scenario: As the U.S. team gets down early, Zach Johnson goes top-heavy with the biggest stars, and despite his development, Clark becomes a forgotten man, only seeing one match before Sunday.
Rickie Fowler
Best-Case Scenario: The team’s most flexible partner, Fowler becomes the first player in Ryder Cup history to pair with four different teammates in the first four sessions and post an undefeated record.
Worst-Case Scenario: Entering the week with a 3-7-5 career Ryder Cup record, it doesn’t get any better, as criticisms continue in regard to an inability to be clutch when it matters the most.
Brian Harman
Best-Case Scenario: Ho-hum. Another trip to Europe, another week where Harman systematically carves up the golf course and leaves the competition in his wake. By Sunday evening, even the Europeans are wondering whether the good ol’ boy wasn’t born on their side of the pond.
Worst-Case Scenario: After sitting in Friday morning’s foursomes session, which might be his preferable format, Harman loses in afternoon four-balls and never really gets his week on track from there.
Max Homa
Best-Case Scenario: The momentum from his first Presidents Cup carries over to his first Ryder Cup, as Homa replicates last year’s 4-0-0 record, and the already-popular social media star transforms into the next great American hero.
Worst-Case Scenario: Without notice, major championship Max shows up at what is essentially an event of major importance, and his record of no result better than 10th place in 17 career starts once again rears its ugly head.
Brooks Koepka
Best-Case Scenario: Speaking of majors, the Koepka who’s won five of ‘em proves that the Ryder Cup means just as much, as the look on his face from the first tee Friday morning serves as foreshadowing that he’s not going to lose a match all week.
Worst-Case Scenario: It’s been said that having a LIV golfer won’t cause a chasm in the team room, but whether it’s that or his comments after the last Ryder Cup on how he can’t enjoy his usual individualism during the week, he just never jells with the rest of the roster.
Collin Morikawa
Best-Case Scenario: One of the game’s most accurate drivers and elite-level iron players crushes opponents with a fairways-and-greens combo that is steady enough to win matches on a course more difficult than anyone had imagined.
Worst-Case Scenario: As it turns out, it takes more than fairways-and-greens to win holes, and Morikawa’s balky putter turns out to be a major issue.
Xander Schauffele
Best-Case Scenario: Teaming with Cantlay in partnered matches once again, Schauffele also wins his singles match and solidifies his position as one of the game’s most talented players, while his odds to win a major in 2024 take a Sunday-evening tumble.
Worst-Case Scenario: Thought to be America’s best tandem, he and Cantlay lose two Friday matches, forcing Johnson to move toward Plan B for the weekend.
Scottie Scheffler
Best-Case Scenario: Buoyed by a Thursday afternoon putting tip from Burns, the world’s No. 1-ranked player suddenly starts to look like one of the world’s best putters, too, even starting a post-match interview by staring into the camera and saying, “Uh-oh, somebody learned how to putt.”
Worst-Case Scenario: Without any new tips, even those 5-footers add up, and the more he misses, the more his European opponents want to see ‘em. By his Sunday singles match, even the 18-inch putts aren’t gimmes for Scheffler.
Jordan Spieth
Best-Case Scenario: His performance will be remembered less for what we saw – which includes plenty of wedge hole-outs and 30-foot birdies – and more for what we didn’t see, as a Friday morning pep talk to Justin Thomas does wonders for his partner’s game.
Worst-Case Scenario: It’s typical Spieth golf throughout the week, but the roller coaster never quite reaches its peak, as those wedge shots come dangerously close without dropping, and he can’t seem to hole even short putts, let alone the long ones.
Justin Thomas
Best-Case Scenario: By Friday afternoon, the entire world has forgotten all about his year-long struggles and being a controversial captain’s pick, as Thomas looks no different than the guy who’s won two majors and owns a 6-2-1 record in this event.
Worst-Case Scenario: Instead of the guy who finished in fifth place a few weeks ago, JT resembles the one who twice posted scores in the 80s at major championships in 2023. It gets so bad that Keegan Bradley starts tweeting unsubtle emojis every time JT loses a hole.
Europe
Ludvig Aberg
Best-Case Scenario: The hype machine gets cranked all the way to 10, as Aberg doesn’t just look like the best rookie in this competition, but the best player overall. Even before playing his first major, some pundits subsequently predict he’ll win a number into the double-digits.
Worst-Case Scenario: Slow down, everybody. Even though he owns a tremendous amount of talent, we quickly remember that the 23-year-old remains inexperienced, especially in an event of this magnitude.
Matt Fitzpatrick
Best-Case Scenario: As the course toughens up, Marco Simone starts to resemble a U.S. Open type of test, which is right up Fitzpatrick’s alley, as he continually grinds out pars to win holes while his opponents struggle.
Worst-Case Scenario: Maybe this just isn’t his thing. Fitzpatrick only played one semester in college, and it’s starting to look like team golf just doesn’t suit him, as his 0-5-0 record somehow gets even worse as the week continues.
Tommy Fleetwood
Best-Case Scenario: The partnership previously known as Moli-wood instead turns into Hatt-wood, Fitz-wood and even Rose-wood, as Tommy wins matches with multiple partners and proves once again how much he loves partnered matches.
Worst-Case Scenario: The man who so often comes so close takes every match to the 18th hole before losing on the last. There’s no consolation prize for second place at this one.
Tyrrell Hatton
Best-Case Scenario: With a big smile on his face from the start, Hatton plays free and easy, often joking around with his playing partner or the caddies or even some Italian fans behind the gallery ropes, as he breezes through win after win.
Worst-Case Scenario: His first tee shot on Friday morning slices wayward, and a scowl emerges on Hatton’s face as he hurls his driver against the grandstand and stomps after his ball, a mood which never leaves him for three days.
Nicolai Hojgaard
Best-Case Scenario: Perhaps the forgotten man on the European roster shouldn’t have been so forgotten, as Hojgaard proves captain Luke Donald to be an analytical genius for giving him the final spot on this roster.
Worst-Case Scenario: After a bevy of bogeys in his first match, the home crowd starts chanting, “We want Meronk!” in reference to the man who coulda/shoulda/woulda been the final captain’s pick.
Viktor Hovland
Best-Case Scenario: Remember how Hovland played during those last two weekends of the PGA Tour's FedExCup Playoffs? It’s like that, only better. The heater continues for a player who continues to make a case as being the world’s best right now.
Worst-Case Scenario: Following an 0-3-2 record in his first Ryder Cup, the Norwegian admits to feeling pressure as one of the team’s best players and never finds his comfort zone throughout the week.
Shane Lowry
Best-Case Scenario: Chuffed at failing to make the FedExCup Playoffs and being labeled a controversial selection by some, Lowry uses the Justin Thomas-sized chip on his shoulder to play some of his best golf since winning The Open Championship four years ago.
Worst-Case Scenario: Maybe there was a reason some observers believed he shouldn’t be on this team. Throughout the year, Lowry was often good-but-not-great, but as he finds throughout the week, “good” isn’t enough to win points in this event.
Robert MacIntyre
Best-Case Scenario: While there’s been plenty discussed about Adrian Meronk’s win at Marco Simone earlier this year, many have forgotten that MacIntyre won here last year, though he offers plenty of reminders that this track suits his game.
Worst-Case Scenario: With no finishes inside the top 40 in his last three starts – including a curious decision to play in France last week – the lefty shows up out of form and never has much impact while playing only two matches.
Rory McIlroy
Best-Case Scenario: The team’s de facto leader essentially tells the rest of the squad to get on his back, as he posts a 5-0-0 record and never even sees the 16th hole during what some will call the most dominant performance in Ryder Cup history.
Worst-Case Scenario: When Rory wants it too much, it often doesn’t happen. That can be said for the green jacket, and it can be said for the Ryder Cup two years ago, when he punctuated his performance with a teary-eyed interview. After another team loss, he can only reiterate those words.
Jon Rahm
Best-Case Scenario: One of the world’s preeminent throat-steppers, Rahm walks around with his chest puffed out all week, the kind of guy you wouldn’t want to run into in a dark alley and certainly the kind you wouldn’t want to run into in match play.
Worst-Case Scenario: Since his Masters victory, Rahm has posted three top-five finishes, but too often his game has just looked a little “off,” and that’s the case again this week, when it’s never awful but never as good as it could be.
Justin Rose
Best-Case Scenario: The man with a 13-8-2 lifetime record in this event doesn’t quite get into Garcia/Faldo territory this week, but he still solidifies himself as one of the better Ryder Cup performers of all time, certainly on the European side.
Worst-Case Scenario: With so much youth on this team, the 43-year-old never really finds his niche, struggling to find the proper partner for the first two days.
Sepp Straka
Best-Case Scenario: One of the game’s streakier players, Straka is on his game from the beginning and more than happy to beat up on some American foes whom he knows much better than his European teammates.
Worst-Case Scenario: The man who calls himself “100 percent Austrian and 100 percent American” has mixed feelings throughout the week, as he’s never totally embraced by his teammates as a “real European” like those who remained there longer.
