A closer look at the Ryder Cup Rookies

The 44th Ryder Cup will feature eight Rookies with the divide evenly split between Team Europe and the U.S. Team at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club.

The biennial event is held in Rome, Italy for the first time and many have already drawn comparisons between golf's greatest team competition and the theatre of Roman ancient history.

Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, Austria's Sepp Straka, Dane Nicolai Højgaard and Sweden's Ludvig Åberg will don Team Europe colours for the first time in a diverse team selected by Captain Luke Donald.

U.S. Ryder Cup Team Captain Zach Johnson has selected four Rookies who are all inside the top 25 on the Official World Golf Rankings - Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Max Homa and Sam Burns - for the intriguing battle which will take place this week.

Here, we take a closer look at the first-time players who will tee it up in Rome and what their team captain said after selection.

Team Europe

Robert MacIntyre

The Scot secured the third automatic spot in the European Points List after holding off Germany's Yannik Paul by making the cut in the final event of qualifying at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland. MacIntyre will be returning to the venue of his second DP World Tour title when he tees it up at Marco Simone.

Luke Donald: "He earned his spot there. It's not easy to earn, especially with the criteria that I set. Those six Picks; there's only six automatic qualifiers, and he was one of those. Full props to Bob for playing well.

"He showed a lot of commitment. We all saw his grittiness and his ability to play great golf at the Scottish Open and other events as well. I'm very, very excited to have him on the team."

Sepp Straka

Only the second Austrian to play in a Ryder Cup, Straka surged into contention when he secured his second PGA TOUR title at the John Deere Classic in July. A tie for second at The Open Championship soon followed, while he impressed Captain Donald with his commitment to play in the inaugural Hero Cup in January.

Luke Donald: "Sepp was great in his commitment to play in the Hero Cup at the beginning of the year, flew all the way from Maui as a champion on the PGA TOUR to Abu Dhabi, and made that commitment to come and play.

"I saw how much he loved that team environment. He really lapped it up, and obviously he's been on some great form of late.

"Winning at the John Deere, second at The Open Championship, he would have finished sixth individually at East Lake and he's had two strong years on the PGA TOUR and couldn't leave him off."

Nicolai Højgaard

The Dane made a big statement when he replaced injured twin brother Rasmus in the Hero Cup in January. He finished the week as the joint top-points scorer, winning 3.5 points from four matches. The 22-year-old also has form at the host venue, backing up his 2021 DS Automobiles Italian Open title with a fifth placed finish earlier this year.

Luke Donald: "He was the most impressive player of the week. His statistics were the most impressive.

"You got to look and see what he had inside of him in a match play and a team environment. Certainly that went towards some of those decisions with getting him being a pick."

Ludvig Åberg

The Swedish star only turned professional in June after becoming the first player to secure a PGA TOUR card via collegiate merit. His first professional start saw his finish in a tie for 25th at the RBC Canadian Open in June before recording fourth at the John Deere Classic. In Europe, he came fourth in his first regular DP World Tour event at the D+D REAL Czech Masters before winning the Omega European Masters in Switzerland - the final Team Europe qualifying event.

Luke Donald: "We obviously knew what he was doing on the college scene. You look at what he did those four years. The only comparables, are really with Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm, what he was doing. We were obviously keeping an eye on him. And I played with him in Detroit and was blown away by his game.

"I really do have a lot of faith and belief in Ludvig. I think he's a generational player. He's going to be around a long time. He's going to do amazing things."

U.S. Team

Wyndham Clark

The 29-year-old had a breakout 2023 campaign and was the second player to automatically qualify for the U.S. Ryder Cup Team. He held off Rory McIlroy to claim his first Major Championship in June when he won the U.S. Open Championship at Los Angeles Country Club, just a month after his maiden PGA TOUR victory at the Wells Fargo Championship.

Zach Johnson: "Wyndham showed incredible poise and resiliency at Los Angeles Country Club in June. He's been playing at an elite level all year and owns the most sub-par rounds on the PGA Tour in 2023.

"Having the ability to make a ton of birdies is exactly what is needed at a Ryder Cup. I'm pumped to have Wyndham on the U.S. Team."

Brian Harman

Harman was another American to secure their maiden Major Championship crown in 2023 when he cruised to a six-stroke victory at The Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club. Despite making his Ryder Cup debut, he has vast match play experience after being part of successful U.S.Walker Cup Teams in 2005 and 2009.

Zach Johnson: "I just feel like he's cut and made for these kind of teams. I say that. Doesn't mean you're going to play in them all and it's really difficult to make the teams.

"He has that ability and that talent, that mentality, to kind of make that be a positive. I think he's truly made for these events. I don't know if he does anything poorly. He just does everything really, really consistently well."

Max Homa

The World Number Seven had a stellar season with two PGA TOUR wins - the Fortinet Championship and the Farmers Insurance Open. He finished in the top ten on 12 occasions and secured an automatic spot on the back of his strong performances.

Zach Johnson: "I have a ton of respect for Max and think he will bring a ton of passion to the U.S. Team room in Rome.

"I've seen his game up close and personal in Match Play, and I know he's going play a critical part in our success in Italy."

Sam Burns

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Burns will bring his strong match play experience to Rome after winning the 2023 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March - his fifth career PGA TOUR title. He has certainly brought passion, and spotlight, to the U.S. Team after shaving 'USA' into the side of his head in the build-up to the biennial event.

Zach Johnson: "Great athlete. He won the World Golf Match Play Championships this year. Tremendous putter, which is always good in a Ryder Cup.

"To say he mixes well with the rest of the team would be a massive understatement, he's a versatile team-mate. Guys want to be around him, guys want to play with him - it's nice locking hands, locking shoulders with somebody you want to be around and Sam fits that to a tee."