Last year’s Team Europe drubbing of Team USA in the Ryder Cup could be attributed to a few reasons – the home advantage, the alleged division in the USA team, and the efforts of Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari. However, Rory McIlroy pointed out another factor they got right when speaking to the press after his Tour Championship round.

When asked about qualifications for next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, McIlroy revealed an ingredient of the secret sauce from last year, “I think one of the great things that we did leading up to Rome is we basically had — pretty much had the team set a few months in advance, so hopefully we can do the same thing again and know the 12 that we’re bringing to New York pretty early”.

Last time, Team Europe finalized their team members on September 3rd, 2023, three weeks before the start of the Ryder Cup. Team USA finalized their members a few days ago on August 29, so they had about the same time to plan for the Ryder Cup.

This time, McIlroy hopes to do the same and dedicate the remaining time to planning pairings and strategizing for the tournament. He believes this was a key aspect of their plan for Ryder Cup glory last year.

He was asked the question as Shane Lowry was leaving to play in the DP World Tour next. This is because the European team qualification starts next week at the Betfred British Masters. Lowry won’t be playing in the British Masters but will be playing in Royal County Down, Wentworth, and Madrid. McIlroy also plans on playing five tournaments in the DP World Tour, unlike Lowry’s three.

What is the new Ryder Cup qualification system for Team Europe?

Team Europe has made a few changes to its qualification rules for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. The points allotments have changed, and now only one points list will be used for qualification.

The new qualification points system is aimed at finding the best players to play for the team and awards more points for events on the PGA Tour than on the DP World Tour. The most points are gained by playing in the majors, then the PGA Tour Signature events, The Players, and FedEx Cup playoffs. Next in the pecking order are the DP World Tour Rolex Series Events, and then the PGA Tour Regular FedEx Cup events.

The new system has received some backlash, but most analysts agree that the system favors the selection of the best players over encouraging players to participate in the DP World Tour. LIV Golf was not mentioned in the announcement.

Who do you think is going to triumph in the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black? Will Europe retain the prestigious trophy, or will Team USA up their game and take the bragging rights this time?