The countdown to the 2025 Ryder Cup continues as match play takes centre stage on the DP World Tour this week with the return of the Team Cup in Abu Dhabi.
The three-day competition heads back to the capital of the United Arab Emirates, from January 10-12, following the inaugural edition in 2023 when Continental Europe claimed a 14½ -10½ victory over Great Britain & Ireland.
Justin Rose assumes the Great Britain & Ireland captaincy for the first time and will go head-to-head with his Ryder Cup teammate Francesco Molinari, who led Continental Europe two years ago.
Here, we check in on the ten-strong Great Britain & Ireland side looking to win the trophy for the first time and make an early impression in a Ryder Cup year.
Justin Rose
Continues to challenge the best in the game into his mid-40s, as highlighted by his runner-up finish behind Xander Schauffele at The Open last year. He has appeared in six Ryder Cup teams, winning on four occasions, so knows a thing or two about match play golf. Such experience is invaluable and could prove influential should the 44-year-old Englishman be a part of Donald’s Ryder Cup team once again later this year, having contributed one and a half points in Italy in 2023. For now, though, the former World Number One combines playing and captaincy duties for the first time as he takes over the responsibilities from Tommy Fleetwood, who held the role last time around in Abu Dhabi.
Laurie Canter
Held his nerve down the stretch to win his first DP World Tour title at the European Open in Germany last year. After coming through the Qualifying School in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the victory ended a long wait to enter the DP World Tour winner’s circle. He would go on to reach the DP World Tour Championship, finishing tied 14th in Dubai as a late charge to earn dual membership came up just short. Has match play experience from his amateur days, including when he was part of England’s winning side at the 2010 European Amateur Team Championship. Also in that team was Fleetwood, his Great Britain & Ireland teammate this week.
Tommy Fleetwood
It seems fair to say the Englishman is a ‘lock’ for the European Ryder Cup team later this year. While a first PGA TOUR win is so far proving elusive, his consistency of performance is a hallmark of his game. While he won his seventh DP World Tour title at the Dubai Invitational, the highlight of 2024 was arguably his silver medal at the Olympic Games in Paris. He also achieved his career-best finish to date at the Masters, finishing tied third. After reaching the Tour Championship, he ended his campaign with three top tens in his last four starts to climb inside the top ten in the world. He contributed three points at the Team Cup two years ago, the same haul he returned from his four matches at the Ryder Cup in Rome in 2023.
Tyrrell Hatton
As with Fleetwood, the Englishman was on the losing Great Britain & Ireland side at the Team Cup two years ago. And like his countryman, he has Ryder Cup experience to call upon. He finished first, second and sixth across his final three starts of the 2024 DP World Tour season, claiming his first victory in more than three years at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Those performances mean he sits third on the Ryder Cup Rankings, with the top six ranked players following the Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo in August qualifying for Team Europe. The 33-year-old is likely to be important to Great Britain & Ireland’s chances of victory this week, having improved his match play record by going unbeaten with three and a half points from four matches at the 2023 Ryder Cup.
Tom McKibbin
At 22, the Northern Irishman is the youngest player across both teams. But since entering the paid ranks in 2021, he has already achieved a great deal. After graduating from the Challenge Tour in 2022, he marked his rookie season on the DP World Tour with victory at the Porsche European Open in Germany. He almost made it two wins in as many years, losing in a play-off to Marcel Siem at the Italian Open. But with his top tens across the 2024 campaign, he did enough to claim the final dual membership spot via the Race to Dubai Rankings thanks to a closing birdie at the DP World Tour Championship. He made his first start in a Major at the U.S. Open in June, before following that up with his Open debut a month later at Royal Troon. It will be intriguing to see how he fares this season, combining playing opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic.
Aaron Rai
Ranked just outside the top 20 in the world, the Englishman enjoyed a memorable 2024 and began the new year by finishing tied 15th at The Sentry on the PGA TOUR last week. A run of three consecutive top tens was followed by a breakthrough PGA TOUR win at the Wyndham Championship as he went on to qualify for the Tour Championship without playing a single signature event. Of Indian descent, Rai grew up in Wolverhampton and has come up through the ranks in Europe. Since graduating from the Challenge Tour in 2017, when he won three times, he has won twice on the DP World Tour. Accurate off the tee and with good numbers for his approach play, the 29-year-old's game should suit match play.
Jordan Smith
One of four players in the Great Britain & Ireland line-up with experience of featuring at the Team Cup two years ago, having played alongside Fleetwood in foursomes and Hatton in fourballs. As consistent a performer on the DP World Tour as they come over recent years, he was very unfortunate to miss out on securing dual membership status at the end of last season, having registered six top tens. Of those, two were runner-up finishes as he sought to add to his two DP World Tour titles since finishing top of the Challenge Tour’s rankings in 2016. The 32-year-old didn’t dwell on his near miss as he headed Down Under for back-to-back starts in Australia at the start of the new season, and he then finished tied sixth at the Nedbank Golf Challenge. His best performance in a Major Championship remains his top ten on debut at the US PGA Championship in 2017.
Matt Wallace
The Englishman has made clear his determination to make the European Ryder Cup team for the first time, having missed out on selection in 2018. As things stand, he is on the plane for Bethpage but there is a long way to go. After a top ten at the Betfred British Masters, he won his fifth DP World Tour title at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland. He would record four subsequent top 20s, including a third-place finish in Abu Dhabi during the DP World Tour Play-Offs as he finished 14th on the season-ending Race to Dubai Rankings. The 34-year-old, who has a PGA TOUR win to his name, relishes competition and will be intent on producing his best in a match play environment in front of the watching Donald as he appears at the Team Cup for a second time.
Paul Waring
Sport at the highest level is about seizing opportunities and Waring did just that with his victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. Not only did he become a two-time winner on the DP World Tour and enter the Rolex Series winner’s enclosure, but he secured dual membership status at 39. He comes into the week inside the top 100 in the world and may feel he has the platform to mount a push for Ryder Cup qualification by impressing on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR this year and a good performance this week would only help his cause.
Matthew Jordan
Jordan is no stranger to team golf having represented Great Britain & Ireland at the 2017 Walker Cup and Europe in the Bonallack Trophy in 2018. A Challenge Tour graduate in 2019, he has since impressed while on the DP World Tour. While he may be awaiting his first DP World Tour title, he comes into the new year on the back of his career-best season in 2024. The 28-year-old finished tied tenth at The Open Championship for the second year running, registering a further five top tens on the Race to Dubai to finish 41st on the Rankings. He got his new season off to an excellent start by finishing tied second in the Nedbank Golf Challenge last month, earning his pick for this event as a result.
