Check out the five clubs that will be key for the U.S. Ryder Cup Team

The Ryder Cup may be golf’s most scrutinized event. Everything from captain’s picks and pairings to uniforms and even hairstyles is fodder for fans and media alike to dissect in the days leading up to the event. Such speculation is the inevitable byproduct of the lengthy preamble to the proceedings. The Ryder Cup’s Friday start leaves ample time for analysis -- and lots of airtime to fill before the highly-anticipated opening tee shot.

At the end of the day, however, the only thing that matters is the performance of the 12 men on each team. All the preparation goes out the window once play is underway. Then it comes down to the players hitting the shots. The team that succeeds will be the one that can summon its best under the Ryder Cup’s intense duress.

Rome's Marco Simone Golf & Country Club is the venue for this year’s Ryder Cup, the first played in Italy. The unique course will challenge players both physically and mentally. The course is not long by today’s standards, but its hilly terrain makes it a difficult walk. The rough is expected to be healthy, as well, penalizing players who spray if off the tee. The layout offers multiple risk-reward holes, requiring players to make multiple cost-benefit analyses throughout the round. The reachable par-5s and long approaches on the par-3s and par-4s mean long irons could be especially important.

“We want to get wedges and short irons out of the Americans’ hands,” said Rory McIlroy on GOLF's "Subpar" podcast. “We know that that’s what they’re really good at. So if we make this a driving and sort of mid-iron to long-iron and putting contest, we feel like that’s where we have the best opportunity to win.”

With that in mind, here are clubs that will be key for the U.S. Team as it seeks its first win in Europe since 1993.

1. Justin Thomas’ long driver

Club specifications: Titleist TSR3 (10 degrees), with a Graphite Design VF-5X shaft, measuring 45.625 inches

Over the past few years, Justin Thomas has said several times that he will willingly sacrifice some distance off the tee to gain increased accuracy, which gives his incredible iron play more opportunities to shine.

Thomas ranked eighth on TOUR in driving distance during his FedExCup-winning season of 2017, when he won five times, including the PGA Championship. This year, however, Thomas has fallen to 37th in that statistic.

The tide could be turning, however. At the Fortinet Championship, Thomas unveiled a longer driver that provided an instant increase in distance. Thomas didn’t use the club in the first round at Silverado Resort in Napa, California, and ranked 71st in distance that day.

He brought it out for the final three rounds, however, and finished the week third in Driving Distance en route to a fifth-place finish.

Whether Thomas will use the club at the Ryder Cup remains to be seen. It may stay on the bench because of the thicker rough, or it may be a useful asset in match play, which rewards aggression. That’s especially true in Four-balls, when birdies are a necessity.

Thomas said in his pre-tournament press conference at the Fortinet Championship that the longer club was not going to be a mainstay in his bag, but an occasional option when the course and conditions called for it. The Fortinet was his first event with the club, however, and the fact that he brought it out so quickly may portend more consistent usage than originally anticipated.

“I wanted a longer driver option to have,” Thomas said. “I wanted something to where maybe I travel with it every week and it's like maybe I use it five times a year, maybe I use it once. It's just three-fourths of an inch longer, but it's an instant 2 or 3 mph club speed (increase), and it goes quite a bit further.

“When I hit it hard, hit that hard high one, it's a 15-yarder, which is a nice thing obviously to have.”

Throughout this year, Thomas has employed a 44.875-inch Titleist TSR3 driver with 10 degrees of loft. He used a Mitsubishi Diamana ZF 60TX shaft in the driver. The long club uses the same Titleist TSR3 head but with a longer Graphite Design VF-5X shaft.

2. Sam Burns’ putter

Club specifications: Odyssey No. 7 prototype

Burns has used an Odyssey O-Works Black #7S putter since making he made his pro debut at the 2017 Sanderson Farms Championship. The putter has been in his bag for each of his five PGA TOUR wins and for good reason: He has ranked in the top 30 of Strokes Gained: Putting in each of his five seasons on TOUR, including three consecutive campaigns in the top 10 of that metric. He is ninth this season.

Burns surprisingly switched into a new Odyssey No. 7 prototype putter ahead of this year’s TOUR Championship, however. Although the new putter bears a striking resemblance to his longtime O-Works putter, his new flatstick has a smooth, black face insert with a bolder black paint job on the crown.

Whether the new putter remains in the bag in Rome remains to be seen. Burns was sixth in Strokes Gained: Putting among the 30 players at East Lake for the TOUR Championship, gaining 2.6 strokes for the week.

In the small sample of a single week, putting is often the separator between success and failure. That’s especially true in the Ryder Cup, where a string of one-putts can quickly demoralize an opponent and swing the momentum.

Whichever putter Burns decides to use in Rome, there’s a good chance that it could play a key role for his team.

See more photos and speculation about Burns’ Odyssey prototype putter here.

3. Patrick Cantlay’s driver

Club specifications: Titleist TS3 (9.5 degrees @ 8.75)

Patrick Cantlay is one of the PGA TOUR’s premiere drivers of the golf ball. He leads the TOUR in Total Driving, ranks fifth in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and is 15th in Driving Accuracy. He possess a strong combination of above-average distance and accuracy, as he also ranks 35th in Driving Distance.

While many of his peers are quick to switch into the latest technology, especially with the driver, Cantlay still uses a Titleist TS3 driver that was released in 2018.

“In general, I’m not a big tester,” said Cantlay, who is an equipment free agent this year. The fact that he has stuck with his driver this long, despite the ability to play any club he prefers, is a testament to his confidence in it.

Given the premium that Marco Simone will place on accurate driving, Cantlay has an opportunity to gain an advantage with his consistently long and straight tee shots.

4. Rickie Fowler’s irons

Club specifications: Cobra King Tour (4-PW)

Rickie Fowler’s new putter was the biggest equipment news that he made in 2023. He was part of the banner year for Odyssey’s counterbalanced Versa Jailbird putter and even inspired U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark to switch into the putter before his two wins this year.

Fowler also switched irons this season. He has used blades for the majority of his career, but he switched into a set of cavity-back Cobra King Tour irons at the beginning of the season. The switch has proven successful, as Fowler ranks ninth in Strokes Gained: Approach-the-Green this season and 14th in average proximity from 175-200 yards.

“These irons are definitely bigger than what I’m used to,” Fowler said last fall. “I knew they were going to be more forgiving, but I also wanted to make sure the numbers were as consistent, make sure there wasn’t going to be any higher spin or lower spin depending on contact.

“Mishits a little off center, or a little low on the face, or (off the heel), were really stable. Especially the ones a groove or two low, the misses weren’t as short. … A few yards here and there can make a big difference.

“Overall, I just saw more forgiveness, but at the same time, keeping the characteristics that I want with flight and spin. … (I’ve) always loved the look and the feel (of blades), but I’m able to basically still get a great look, really good feel with these.”

5. Scottie Scheffler’s putter

Club specifications: Scotty Cameron Timeless TourType vs. TaylorMade Spider Tour prototype putter

Scheffler had a historic ball-striking season. He currently leads the PGA TOUR in both Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee and Approach-the-Green, and would become the first player to rank first in both statistics in the same season.

His performance from tee-to-green led to two victories this season, including a win at THE PLAYERS, and 17 top-10s in 23 starts.

He ranks 151st in Strokes Gained: Putting, however. That number is especially glaring in comparison to his astounding ball-striking metrics.

Scheffler made multiple putter switches this year in search of solutions.

He has typically used a Scotty Cameron Special Select Timeless TourType GSS blade putter since earning his first PGA TOUR victory at the 2022 WM Phoenix Open. That putter has been in the bag for all six of his PGA TOUR wins, including the Masters and THE PLAYERS.

He has experimented with some mallets this season. He switched into a Scotty Cameron mallet at last fall’s CJ CUP in South Carolina, a wide-bodied Scotty Cameron blade at the U.S. Open and a custom TaylorMade Spider Tour “SS Proto” at the opening event of the FedExCup Playoffs, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis. That experiment was short-lived however, as he switched back into a Scotty Cameron Timeless TourType blade at the TOUR Championship.

“The guys at TaylorMade have done a lot of work for me with the putter,” Scheffler said at the FedEx St. Jude Championship about the mallet. “This one is a bit different than a lot of the Spiders that they've made, and the weight is more in the front so it has the feel of a blade putter that I like but it also has a lot of that visual on the top where it's easier for me to line up. It feels like at times this year I've hit a lot of good putts that have gone right up to the edge and not gone in.”

Everyone will be interested to see what putter Scheffler has in the bag when he arrives in Rome after a one-month layoff. Scheffler is the No. 1 player in the world and his putting performance will be key to the United States’ chances.