Scottie Scheffler believes Team USA are much better prepared for the Ryder Cup this time around after the majority of Keegan Bradley’s team competed in last week’s Procore Championship on the PGA Tour. 

Scheffler, 29, closed with weekend rounds of 64 and 67 to see out a narrow one-stroke victory over his Ryder Cup teammate Ben Griffin and capture his sixth tournament victory of the PGA Tour season last Sunday. 

The World No.1 was one of 10 of Bradley’s 2025 United States Ryder Cup 12-man team to compete in Napa. 

The only omissions were Xander Schauffele, who was alongside his wife after the birth of their first child, and Bryson DeChambeau, who remains suspended by the PGA Tour as a result of his ties to the LIV Golf League. 

Bradley urged as many of his team members to compete in the Procore Championship as to avoid competitive rust heading into the Ryder Cup.

That was deemed to have been the biggest reason for USA’s lethargic start at the 2023 Ryder Cup where Zach Johnson’s team lost the openng foursomes session 4-0.

It marked just the fourth time in Ryder Cup history that Europe had taken all four points in a session, and the very first time Europe had clean swept Friday’s opening session. 

The sloppy start at Marco Simone ultimately gave the visitors too much work to do en route to an eventual five-point loss in Rome. 

But Scheffler believes USA will come out firing this time around at Bethpage in front of a boisterous home New York crowd – all as a result of a change in team preparation.

Scheffler, who has a win and a loss in two previous Ryder Cup appearances in 2021 and 2023, considers it’s been “weird” for the Americans to have had such a long break from PGA Tour competition leading into the biennial contest. 

The same situation has also applied when Scheffler has competed in two previous Presidents Cup matches in 2022 and 2024. 

“I mean, when I look at my experience from the last few team events, it’s weird to have such a long break after the season ends to one of our biggest events being either the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup,” said Scheffler. 

“Those are huge for us as Americans and something we take a lot of pride in. 

“I find it really weird there’s four or five weeks between the end of our season and a huge team event. 

“So staying sharp is something that’s always important to me, but it is important to also get rest at the end of each season. 

“I mean, playing tournament golf out here for an entire year, being in contention, it takes a lot out of you physically and mentally. 

“So there is a balance between rest and getting ready for the team events, but going into this Ryder Cup I felt like for our preparation this was something we needed to do was come and play 

“Like I said, I think we’re all feeling very prepared to go into Bethpage and excited to get that week started.”

The 2025 Ryder Cup gets underway at Bethpage on Friday 26 September. 

Scheffler has a Ryder Cup record of 2-2-3, which equates to a 50% record. 

The runaway World No.1 is a 6/1 favourite with the bookmakers to be the overall top points scorer at the 2025 Ryder Cup, and a 7/2 favourite to top score for his nation.