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Golf Monthly

Sport

Matt Cradock

How Could Golf Balls Influence The Pairings At The 2025 Ryder Cup?

Golf Ryder Cup Cameron Young Bryson DeChambeau Collin Morikawa JJ Spaun Jon Rahm Ludvig Aberg Rasmus Hojgaard Rory McIlroy

The Ryder Cup trophy in the middle, surrounded by various pairings.

After a two year wait, the Ryder Cup is finally here, with Team USA looking to reclaim the trophy from the hands of Team Europe.

Featuring two sessions of fourballs, one session of singles and two sessions of foursomes, the latter has been dominated by both sides in the last two editions, with Europe going 7-1 in 2023 and USA going 6-2 in 2021.

Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg were among three pairings to go undefeated in foursomes in 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)

Some will say foursomes is the easiest format to predict when it comes to pairings, while some will say it's the hardest...

One thing that is for certain, though, is that foursomes is the most unique of the three formats used at the Ryder Cup, with one key aspect coming down to the golf ball pairings use.

Since 2006, the one ball rule hasn't been in effect, meaning players could swap to a different model depending on the hole.

Essentially, players are free to use whatever golf ball they want but, once that ball is struck off the tee, it must be used for the duration of that hole.

Off the tee, this won't make too much difference, but where this will have the biggest impact is hitting into and around the greens, where golf ball models feature different compressions and feel.

So, what does that mean for the foursomes pairings? Below is a list of the golf balls being used by both the American and European Ryder Cup teams, and how it could impact the two crucial sessions.

Every Golf Ball Players Are Using At The 2025 Ryder Cup

USA

Player	Model
Scottie Scheffler	Titleist Pro V1
JJ Spaun	Srixon Z-Star Diamond
Xander Schauffele	Callaway Chrome Tour
Russell Henley	Titleist Pro V1x
Harris English	Titleist Pro V1
Bryson DeChambeau	Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot (Prototype)
Justin Thomas	Titleist Pro V1x
Collin Morikawa	TaylorMade TP5x
Ben Griffin	Maxfli Tour X
Cameron Young	Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot (Prototype)
Patrick Cantlay	Titleist Pro V1x
Sam Burns	Callaway Chrome Tour X

Europe

Player	Model
Rory McIlroy	TaylorMade TP5
Robert MacIntyre	Titleist Pro V1
Tommy Fleetwood	TaylorMade TP5x Pix
Justin Rose	Titleist Pro V1x
Rasmus Hojgaard	Callaway Chrome Tour X
Tyrrell Hatton	Titleist Pro V1x
Shane Lowry	Srixon Z-Star XV
Jon Rahm	Callaway Chrome Tour X
Sepp Straka	Srixon Z-Star XV
Viktor Hovland	Titleist Pro V1
Ludvig Aberg	Titleist Pro V1x
Matt Fitzpatrick	Titleist Pro V1x

As we saw in Rome, some foursomes pairings will write themselves and, looking at Team Europe, just one new player is joining the ranks in New York. The change just so happens to be twin brother for twin brother, as Nicolai makes way for Rasmus Hojgaard.

Last year, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were undefeated over the two days and the duo are teammates on the LIV Golf League, so you feel captain Luke Donald won't break the pair up despite them using two different golf ball manufacturers.

Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood will, likely, be another pairing, as the duo claimed two wins in foursomes. What's more, despite McIlroy swapping to the TaylorMade TP5 this year, he has spent a large portion of his career using the TP5x, the model Fleetwood uses.

Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland were formidable in Rome, securing the largest 18-hole win in Ryder Cup history - 9&7 over Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka. The pair also use Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x golf balls, so can swap them out if and when.

Rahm is undefeated in foursomes, holding a perfect record of four wins from four (Image credit: Getty Images)

The remaining foursome pairing, in my opinion, is pretty open. Sepp Straka and Shane Lowry claimed one win in two matches in 2023, with both also using the Srixon Z-Star XV golf ball, so that could be an option.

That would leave Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Robert MacIntyre and Hojgaard on the bench, with Fitzpatrick and Rose using the Titleist Pro V1x, MacIntyre the Pro V1 and Hojgaard the Callaway Chrome Tour X.

Speaking about how the golf ball can decide pairings, Donald stated: "Certain players are very particular about what ball they play. Some people are quite good at adjusting.

"Certainly you can get to a stage where you feel like you have a great personality match, you have great statistical match, they fit the golf course, odds and evens, and then suddenly the golf ball doesn’t work. It’s certainly one of the factors we have to look at, and it can make a difference."

On the US side, the foursomes pairings are harder to predict, given that six new players join the squad in 2025, four of whom are rookies.

One possible option could be Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Young, who both use a prototype Titleist Pro V1x Double Dot, a model that Young used to win the Wyndham Championship.

The pair are known as two of the best ball strikers on the planet and, with DeChambeau a fan favorite and Young a New York native, the crowd would be right behind them. This could even be the opening group on Friday morning...

Elsewhere, I wouldn't be surprised to see World No.1 Scottie Scheffler paired with Russell Henley. Both are good friends, were paired together at the Presidents Cup, and they're able to swap out the Titleist Pro V1 and Pro V1x models.

Even though they lost both matches last year, you feel Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay will be paired together for foursomes, given their friendship and impressive record at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.

That leaves one pairing remaining and, given his foursomes record of two wins and one loss, Collin Morikawa could be an option. He is the only player who uses the TaylorMade TP5x, though, which could limit his options in terms of playing partners.

It's a similar story for JJ Spaun who, despite being ranked fifth in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green on the PGA Tour, is the only player to use the Srixon Z-Star Diamond.

Possible partners for those players could be Sam Burns or Ben Griffin, who rank well in terms of driving and putting, leaving Morikawa and Spaun with the approach play.

The only slight negative is that Schauffele uses the Callaway Chrome Tour X and Griffin the Maxfli Tour X which, from our testing, are considerably firmer than the softer TP5x and Z-Star Diamond.

For me, the final pairing will be an interesting one for Keegan Bradley, who will no doubt already have ideas of who will fill it.