USA Ryder Cup team 2021: captain, vice captains and who will face Europe’s golfers at Whistling Straits

Friday 24 September 2021 will see the return of the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin, USA.

This year’s hosts will hope to regain the trophy after their 17.5-10.5 defeat at Le Golf National in 2018.

Europe come into the tournament with a team filled with experience, while the US have a number of rookies, but the home side have players ranked higher in the world standings.

Who is the USA Ryder Cup 2021 captain?

The USA team will be captained by 12 time PGA Tour winner, Steve Stricker. Stricker was born and currently resides in Wisconsin giving him an even greater home advantage that he can bring to the team.

In 2009, Stricker reached Number 2, his highest professional ranking and has made three appearances for the U.S in the Ryder Cup.

United States’ 2018 captain and one of this year’s vice-captains, Jim Furyk, picked Stricker as one of his vice-captains for the tournament held in France.

52-year-old Stricker’s first Ryder Cup came in 2008, the first time the USA had won the biennial matches since 1999.

Who are the United States vice -captains?

Alongside Furyk, Stricker has also chosen Fred Couples, Zach Johnson, Davis Love III and Phil Mackelson as his vice-captains.

51-year-old 2018 captain, Jim Furyk has more starts for the US in the Ryder Cup than anyone else. Furyk has competed nine times and has a 10-20-4 record.

The Pennsylvanian golfer is also a 17-time winner of the PGA Tour and in 2016, he tied for second at the US Open at Oakmont.

Fred Couples will also be vice-captaining the US team, the second time he has taken this role. In 2012, Couples served under Davis Love III at Medinah.

In 1992, the 61-year-old from Washington was world No1 for 16 weeks, the same year he won the Masters.

Couples has also won the PGA Tour 15 times and has 62 professional wins to his name.

Six time Ryder Cup veteran, Davis Love III makes up one of the other vice-captains. His own captaincy in 2016 meant he became the eighth man in history to serve as US captain on more than one occasion and evened the score with a victory at Hazeltine after a devastatingly close defeat of 14-13 at Medinah in 2012.

Love is a 21-time winner on the PGA Tour and was the 1997 PGA Champion and has a highest ranking of No 2, which he achieved in 1998.

The youngest of this year’s American vice-captains, Zach Johnson, will take part in his fifth Ryder Cup. In 2007, Johnson won the Masters and in 2015, he won the Open Championship. He ranked No 6 in 2014 and was part of the 2016 winning Ryder Cup team. The 45-year-old, from Iowa, first competed in the Ryder Cup in 2006, however he missed out on the 2008 tournament so 2016 was his first win

The final member of this year’s vice-captains for Team USA is Phil Mickelson. At this year’s USPGA, Mickelson ended a winning drought that went back to 2013.

Mickelson has also appeared in every single Ryder Cup Team since 1995 and has won three times (1999, 2008, 2016). Nicknamed the ‘Lefty’, Mickelson has 55 professional wins to his name and has won on the PGA Tour 45 times which is the eighth highest of all time.

The US Ryder Cup 2021 team

Joining the captain and vice captains are Daniel Berger, Patrick Cantlay, Bryson Dechambeau, Harris English, Tony Finau, Dustin Joshon, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Xander Shauffele, Scottie Sheffler, Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

Berger, English, Morikawa, Schauffele, Scheffler and Cantlay will all make their first appearances for the US in a Ryder Cup at this year’s tournament.

Cantlay was recently named the 2020-21 PGA Tour player of the year, while Dustin Johnson is the current No.2 ranked player in the Official World Golf Rankings.

The Ryder Cup takes place Friday 24 September 2021 - Sunday 26 September 2021 and will be available to watch on Sky Sports Golf starting on Friday and running until the conclusion on Sunday.