At the end of the month, an American Ryder Cup team with four newcomers, will try to hold off a European team led by Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm in Rome at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.

On paper, it looks like a tough battle; oddsmakers have the U.S. as the top pick, but only by a slight margin. Of course, it is complicated by the fact the U.S. hasn’t won on European soil in three decades, which doesn’t exactly instill confidence.

The LIV Effect

A big question facing the European team is how well they’ll do without some of the stalwarts who have long been around the squad but aren’t going to be in Rome because of their involvement with the LIV Golf tour. Team captain Henrik Stenson was given the boot when he went to LIV, and obvious potential captains—Graeme McDowell and Lee Westwood—will be nowhere to be seen. And Sergio Garcia, who has the most wins in Ryder Cup history, apparently made a last-ditch attempt to get involved with the team but was still turned away. Of course, the Americans have some similar issues—Dustin Johnson won’t be playing, for instance—but one must wonder how the lack of veterans will hurt Europe.

Controversial Choices

Both team captains made picks that raised a Spockian eyebrow. On the European team, it was Adrian Meronk, winner of three DP World Tour events in the last 14 months, and who sits just one spot out of the Top 50 in the world. He was overlooked in favour of Nicolai Højgaard, who is more than 20 spots behind Meronk in the World Ranking. Additionally, Shane Lowry was added to the team, and while his world ranking would indicate he’s earned a spot, his recent play is, well, spotty at best.

On the U.S. side, the pick of Justin Thomas led to some questions. While his world ranking of 24 would seem to suggest he should be in Rome, Thomas had five missed cuts over his last 10 events. That led some to question why he’s on the team. The answer? It seems like U.S. Team Captain Zach Johnson liked the chemistry Thomas brings to the team and felt he couldn’t look past Thomas to someone like, say, Lucas Glover, who is in better form.

The Details

Dates: Sept. 29 to Oct. 1

Europe Captain: Luke Donald

U.S. Captain: Zach Johnson

Europe Team by points: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick, Robert McIntyre, Justin Rose.

U.S. Team by points: Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Brian Harman, Max Homa, Wyndham Clark.

Captain’s picks:

Europe: Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard.

U.S: Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

Key questions facing the Ryder Cup

• Will the lack of LIV players hurt the European team more than the U.S. squad?
• Did the Americans make the right pick in selecting struggling Justin Thomas or did they placate his friends on the team?
• Can the U.S. overcome a three-decade curse to win in Europe?

What do you think?