After what was looking like a straightforward victory for Team Europe after the Saturday session, the 45th edition of the Ryder Cup ended up being a real nail-biter. Team USA came out fighting on Sunday and fell just short of a remarkable comeback, with the score finishing up 15-13 in Europe’s favour.

The likes of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and Justin Rose added to their sterling Ryder Cup legacies at Bethpage Black, and it’ll be interesting to see where they rank among the very best Ryder Cup players when they hang up their clubs for good. But for every hero and Medinah miracle maker, there has to be a zero. But who are the consistently worst players in Ryder Cup history?

Below is a look at the 20 worst golfers in Ryder Cup history, with their positions being judged by lowest win percentage, with all statistics taken per Data Golf. Notably, only players with at least 10 Ryder Cup matches have been considered to ensure a fair sample size. In the event of a tie, players have been split by the number of Ryder Cup matches won in their careers.

10

Jim Furyk

Ryder Cup win percentage: 35.3%

Furyk represented the USA in nine consecutive Ryder Cup tournaments from 1997 to 2014, but the 2003 US Open winner didn’t have quite the same legacy with Team USA as he did on the PGA Tour. A deeper look at Furyk’s statistics reveals a real struggle with four-player matches, having only won six of his 25 pairs matches. Furyk memorably contributed to the 2012 Miracle at Medinah with his late collapse against Europe’s Ryder Cup GOAT, Sergio Garcia. Leading 1-up on the 17th on the final day, Furyk bogeyed the last two holes to hand the point to Garcia. Painfully, Team USA would go on to lose the tournament by one point.

9

Curtis Strange

Ryder Cup win percentage: 35%

Back-to-back US Open winner in 1988 and 1989 and a three-time money list leader in the 1980s, Curtis Strange was a leading star on tour in his day. However, seven points from a possible 20 in Ryder Cup competition suggests otherwise. Still, critics can’t be too hard on Strange; his Ryder Cup days coincided with a very strong European contingent. Representing Team USA between 1983 and 1995, Strange and co. often ran into a European wall consisting of Seve, Langer, Faldo, Woosnam, and Olazabal. Team USA won just once in this period. And very much like Furyk, Strange has his own painful chapter to contribute. An eerily similar pair of 17th and 18th hole bogeys delivered a late collapse for Strange against Nick Faldo in 1995. This saw Strange go from 1-up to 1-down, handing Faldo the decisive point that earned Europe victory overall.

8

Ken Brown

Ryder Cup win percentage: 33.3%

Critics could attribute Brown’s poor record to American dominance at the time, but they could point to his controversial behaviour too. Brown clocked up four wins in 12 matches from 1975 to 1987, but he is often remembered for his disruptive behaviour and his ambivalence towards teamwork. This included an infamous match at the 1979 tournament where Brown refused to speak to his playing partner, Des Smyth, during a four-ball match. The pair lost 7&6 – one of the biggest losing margins in Ryder Cup history. Other memorable controversies included skipping team meetings and refusing to wear the European team’s uniform.

7

Rickie Fowler

Ryder Cup win percentage: 32.4%

The three-time Major runner-up made the team in 2023, but sadly for Fowler, he failed to qualify for this year’s tournament on American soil. This may be attributed to his rather surprising record of just three wins in 17 matches. Interestingly, Fowler has only played a home Ryder Cup on one occasion and, as it is well known, Team USA very rarely win in Europe. To be fair to Fowler, he has faced some very difficult opponents in Ryder Cup singles: McIlroy in 2014, Garcia in 2018, Fleetwood in 2023 — and all of them in Europe. But still just 36, Fowler has time to boost that percentage.

6

Mark O’Meara

Ryder Cup win percentage: 32.1%

The two-time Major winner was another victim of the European stronghold of the 1990s, playing at five Ryder Cups from 1991 to 2002. O’Meara faced the very best that Europe had to offer at that time, contending with both the stars of the 1990s resurgence and the strong next generation that followed in the early 2000s. This included three encounters with Seve, and multiple encounters with Westwood, Langer, Faldo, and Montgomerie. The USA only won twice during this period, ushering in a new period of European dominance that O’Meara sadly had to suffer through.

5

Steve Stricker

Ryder Cup win percentage: 31.8%

Despite his longevity, Stricker only represented Team USA three times from 2008 to 2012. However, he was a part of some significant episodes in the tournament’s long history. Stricker was present for the 2012 Miracle at Medinah and his contributions were notable for all the wrong reasons. Stricker was one of four American players to lose all four of his matches that year. He was also well known for the partnership he struck up with Tiger Woods. Stricker and Woods contributed two match wins to Team USA’s 2010 victory. But in contrast, they lost all three of their pairs matches in 2012. However, Stricker would redeem himself in 2021, captaining USA to a dominant 19-9 victory on home soil.

4

Matt Fitzpatrick

Ryder Cup win percentage: 29.2%

Sadly for Fitzpatrick, he takes the unwanted title of the worst European player on this list. The 2022 US Open winner had won just one match in seven prior to the 2025 tournament. When he made his Ryder Cup debut in 2016, he was the youngest player at the tournament, which may have contributed to his two losses that year. The 2021 mauling by Team USA contributed another three losses for Fitzpatrick before he finally notched his first point in 2023, a singles win against Max Homa on the final day. Fitzpatrick, like so many European players, has discussed the difficulty of playing in front of the loud American crowds. Hopefully, this is an issue that the Englishman will get used to with more Ryder Cup experience.

3

Ben Crenshaw

Ryder Cup win percentage: 29.2%

“Gentle Ben” perhaps needed a little more aggression when Ryder Cup season reared its head. The two-time Masters winner failed to replicate his PGA Tour victories in team competition, winning just three of his 12 matches. Crenshaw did memorably show a glimpse of his hidden aggression during the 1991 tournament, breaking his putter in frustration on the sixth hole. The moment of weakness may have proved costly though, as Crenshaw had to putt with his 1-iron for the remaining twelve holes. The source of Ben’s struggles were four-player matches. Crenshaw never won a four-ball match and only has one foursome victory on his record.

2

Bubba Watson

Ryder Cup win percentage: 28.6%

Like Crenshaw before him, Watson’s two Major wins both came at the Masters. But something else they share is a forgettable Ryder Cup record. Watson’s record is typified by a particularly bad singles run. From his four singles matches, Watson has yet to taste victory in the Ryder Cup, losing all four. He also has only one win from four matches in the foursomes format. But it’s not all Watson’s fault. His Ryder Cup career has coincided with a dominant period for Europe. Team Europe won all four of the Ryder Cup tournaments that Watson played in from 2010 to 2018.

1

Fuzzy Zoeller

Ryder Cup win percentage: 15%

Way out in front and easily the worst Ryder Cup player in history is American player Fuzzy Zoeller. Another two-time Major winner, the memorably named Zoeller won just one match in three Ryder Cup appearances from 1979 to 1985. Interestingly, Zoeller’s sole Ryder Cup win came in his very first match. Pairing with Lee Trevino in the Friday morning four-balls in 1979, they defeated the notorious Ken Brown/Mark James pairing 3&2. Zoeller’s success in the tournament would be very short-lived, going on to lose eight of the nine following matches, drawing one. Rather incredibly, Zoeller’s one draw came in the 1983 tournament against European giant Seve Ballesteros. Zoeller’s half point in the opening match of the final day proved crucial in the end, as Team USA ran out winners by just one point.