Strengths, weaknesses of Europe's Ryder Cup team

Beginning Friday at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, the United States will play Europe in the 44th Ryder Cup. Four-ball and foursome matches will be on Friday and Saturday, with the competition concluding on Sunday with 12 singles matches.

The Europeans have won nine of the past 13 Cups. The Americans seek their first win on foreign soil since 1993. 

Here's a look at the strengths and weaknesses of Europe's 12-man team, listed from most to least experienced in Ryder Cup play:

Rory McIlroy

Ryder Cup record: 12-12-4 | Greatest achievement: Winning 2011 U.S. Open with a record score of 16-under.
Strength: Driving. McIlroy's driver might be the best club in any professional golfer's bag. The star from Northern Ireland has finished top five on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee and driving distance for three years straight.
Weakness: Putting under pressure. McIlroy hasn't won a major championship in nearly 10 years, and the biggest reason is because he consistently goes cold on the greens on Sundays. 

Justin Rose

Ryder Cup record: 13-8-2 | Greatest achievement: Winning 2013 U.S. Open.
Strength: Experience. It's no secret why captain Luke Donald picked Rose for his squad. Rose has 23 Ryder Cup matches under his belt, and he's one of the most successful Europeans in event history.
Weakness: Driving. At 43, Rose — who moved from South Africa to England at an early age —  doesn't have the length to keep up with the powerful young guns in the game today. If he's not hitting fairways, he will be a liability off the tee.

Jon Rahm

Ryder Cup record: 4-3-1 | Greatest achievement: Winning 2021 U.S. Open.
Strength: Ball-striking. The Spaniard gained strokes off the tee and on approach 11 times in his past 12 starts. Rahm is as elite as they come with his driver and irons.
Weakness: Streaky putting. Finding a weakness in Rahm's game might be nitpicking, but he can go hot and cold with the putter. If he finds a groove on the greens, Rahm will be tough to beat in Rome.

Tommy Fleetwood

Ryder Cup record: 4-2-2 | Greatest achievement: Winning Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship in 2017 and 2018.
Strength: Match-play record and well-balanced game. The Englishman is one of only three players on Team Europe with a winning Ryder Cup record, and he might be the most well-rounded player. He ranked top 30 in strokes gained off the tee, SG approach, SG around the greens and SG putting last season.  
Weakness: Winning pedigree. Despite his strong match-play record, Fleetwood has never won a PGA Tour event. 

Tyrrell Hatton

Ryder Cup record: 2-4-1 | Greatest achievement: Winning 2020 Arnold Palmer Invitational.
Strength: Putting. The Englishman is a lethal putter from long range. He has finished seventh or better on the PGA Tour in strokes gained putting in each of the past two seasons.  
Weakness: Temper. Hatton is known as the "angry golfer" because of how much he lets his emotions show on the golf course. That's a dangerous characteristic to have in such a high-pressure event. 

Viktor Hovland

Ryder Cup record: 0-3-2 | Greatest achievement: Winning 2023 FedEx Cup.
Strength: Ball-striking. The Norwegian can challenge McIlroy as the best ball-striker on Team Europe, as he ranked fifth on Tour in strokes gained tee-to-green and fifth in total driving last season. He also finished the 2022-23 season with two straight wins and a FedEx Cup title.
Weakness: Short game. Hovland's chipping has held him back early in his career. The Norweigan has finished 168th, 124th, 191st and 83rd on Tour in strokes gained around the greens in his four full seasons. 

Matt Fitzpatrick

Ryder Cup record: 0-5-0 | Greatest achievement: Winning 2022 U.S. Open.
Strength: Putting. The Englishman has ice in his veins on the greens. Fitzpatrick ranked third on Tour in total putting, second in putting from inside 10 feet and first in putting from five feet last season. Those putts are pretty important in the Ryder Cup, right?
Weakness: Match-play record. Fitzpatrick is a poor match-play performer. He's 0-5-0 in his Ryder Cup career, and he's never made it past the group stage in seven appearances in the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play. 

Shane Lowry

Ryder Cup record: 1-1-1 | Greatest achievement: Winning 2019 Open Championship.
Strength: Steady driving. Lowry ranked seventh on the PGA Tour in total driving last season, and his accuracy off the tee will be crucial on Marco Simone's tight fairways.
Weakness: Putting. Lowry was abysmal on the greens in 2022-23. He ranked 116th on Tour in strokes gained putting, 146th in putting from inside 10 feet and 171st in putting from four feet. No one is giving Lowry a short putt in Rome.

Ludvig Aberg

Ryder Cup record: Rookie | Greatest achievement: Winning 2023 European Masters.
Strength: Driving. The Swede is a dynamic driver. He gained strokes off the tee in all 13 of his professional starts in 2023, and he gained an average of 0.921 strokes off the tee per round on the PGA Tour. For reference, McIlroy averaged 0.907.
Weakness: Streaky iron play. There isn't much of a sample size for Aberg yet, but the 23-year-old has proven it's not a strength. He gained nearly 13 true strokes on approach in his last three starts of 2023, but he also lost 10.48 strokes with his irons in the two starts before that stretch. 

Sepp Straka

Ryder Cup record: Rookie | Greatest achievement: Winning 2022 Honda Classic.
Strength: Short putting. The Austrian might be the least impressive talent on the European squad, but the good news is he's rock-solid on short putts. He ranked 13th on Tour in putting from inside 10 feet and sixth in putting from four to eight feet last season.
Weakness: Chipping. Straka has been near the bottom of the PGA Tour in strokes gained around the green his entire career. 

Robert MacIntyre

Ryder Cup record: Rookie | Greatest achievement: Winning 2022 DS Automobiles Italian Open.
Strength: Course history. The Scotsman's most recent professional win came at last year's Italian Open on the DP World Tour, which just so happened to be held at Marco Simone. He clearly knows how to play this golf course.  
Weakness: Iron play. MacIntyre has struggled with his irons all year, as he lost strokes on approach in 10 of his 14 measured events in 2023. He'll need to hole a ton of putts to contribute to Team Europe this week.

Nicolai Hojgaard

Ryder Cup record: Rookie | Greatest achievement: Winning 2021 DS Automobiles Italian Open.
Strength: Course history. Speaking of previous winners at Marco Simone, Nicolai Hojgaard won the Italian Open the year before MacIntyre lifted the trophy. Now you know why Donald filled out his roster the way he did.  
Weakness: Putting. Hojgaard is an exceptional ball striker, but he can struggle on the greens at times. The 22-year-old has lost strokes on the green six times in his past nine starts.