Tommy Fleetwood insists Europe not concerned by Ryder Cup underdogs tag

World ranking of players suggests competition could be a tricky one for Harrington's team at Whistling Straits

RYDER CUP 2021 PLAYER GUIDE: USA (automatic qualifers): Collin Morikawa. Age: 24. Caps: 0. Majors: 2 (2020 US PGA, 2021 Open) Started his PGA Tour with 22 consecutive made cuts, just three short of the record held by Tiger Woods. Morikawa became the first player to capture two different majors on the first attempt with his Open victory at Royal St George’s. PA

Dustin Johnson. Age: 37. Caps: 4 (2010, 2012, 2016, 2018). Record: Won 7 Lost 9 Halved 0. Majors: 2 (US Open 2016, Masters 2020) Won the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup title in 2020 and followed up by claiming his second major title in November with a record-breaking victory in the Masters, shooting 20 under par at Augusta National. PA

Bryson DeChambeau. Age: 28. Caps: 1 (2018). Record: Won 0 Lost 3 Halved 0. Majors: 1 (2020 US Open). Bulked up during the coronavirus shutdown and subsequently overpowered Winged Foot to win the US Open in September 2020. Has been subject to taunts from fans who have taken team-mate Brooks Koepka’s side in their ongoing spat. Lost all three matches on his debut in Paris. AP

Brooks Koepka. Age: 31. Caps: 2 (2016, 2018). Record: Won 4 Lost 3 Halved 1. Majors: 4 (US Open 2017-18, US PGA 2018-19) Since winning three points from four matches on his debut in 2016, Koepka became the first player since Curtis Strange in 1989 to win back-to-back US Open titles and also won the US PGA in both 2018 and 2019. AP

Justin Thomas. Age: 28. Caps: 1 (2018). Record: Won 4 Lost 1 Halved 0. Majors: 1 (2017 US PGA) The stand-out performer for the US on his debut in Paris in 2018, Thomas won four points from his five matches at Le Golf National. Only the star European pairing of Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari were able to get the better of Thomas and Jordan Spieth. Reuters

Patrick Cantlay. Age: 29. Caps: 0. Majors: 0 Claimed his place on the team in some style, shooting 27 under par in the BMW Championship before beating DeChambeau in a six-hole play-off to claim his third win of the season. Set to resume 2019 Presidents Cup partnership with good friend Xander Schauffele. PA

(Wild cards): Jordan Spieth. Age: 28. Caps: 3 (2014, 2016, 2018). Record: Won 7 Lost 5 Halved 2. Majors: 3 (Masters 2015, US Open 2015, Open 2017) Won two-and-a-half points from three matches with Patrick Reed in 2014 and the same from their four together in 2016, but partnered Thomas – much to Reed’s unhappiness – in Paris and claimed three wins from four matches. PA

Tony Finau. Age: 32. Caps: 1 (2018). Record: Won 2 Lost 1 Halved 0. Majors: 0 A five-year wait for his second PGA Tour title finally came to an end in the first FedEx Cup play-off event in August with a play-off win over Cameron Smith. A hugely-popular figure who shared 10th in the 2018 Masters despite dislocating his ankle when celebrating a hole-in-one during the par-three contest. AFP

Xander Schauffele. Age: 27. Caps: 0. Majors: 0 Made four straight birdies in the final round of the 2021 Masters to close within two of eventual winner Hideki Matsuyama, only to hit his tee shot on the 16th into the water and run up a triple-bogey. Had the consolation of claiming a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. AFP

Harris English. Age: 32. Caps: 0. Majors: 0. Fourth and third in the US Open in the last two years, English followed his strong showing at Torrey Pines in June by winning his fourth PGA Tour title the following week at the Travelers Championship. Also won the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January. PA

Daniel Berger. Age: 28. Caps: 0. Majors: 0 Won his fourth PGA Tour title in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February with an eagle on the final hole, but also impressed in the majors in 2021. Finished seventh in the US Open at Torrey Pines and eighth in the Open Championship at Royal St George’s. AP

Scottie Scheffler. Age: 25. Caps: 0. Majors: 0. Shot 59 in the second round of the Northern Trust in 2020 but went on to finish fourth and has yet to win on the PGA Tour. Scheffler recorded top-10 finishes in the US PGA, US Open and Open Championship this year and his length off the tee will be an advantage at Whistling Straits. AFP

EUROPE: (Automatic qualifiers): Jon Rahm (Spain). Age: 26. Caps: 1 (2018). Record: Won 1, Lost 2, Halved 0. Majors: 1 (2021 US Open) Won his first major title at Torrey Pines in June, just 15 days after being forced to withdraw from the Memorial Tournament when leading by six shots due to a positive Covid test. Won one of his three matches in Paris in 2018 - against Tiger Woods in the singles. Getty

Viktor Hovland (Norway). Age: 23. Caps: 0. Majors: 0 The first Norwegian to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup, Hovland has enjoyed a rapid rise up the world rankings since turning professional thanks to two wins on the PGA Tour and a maiden European Tour title in the BMW International in June. PA

Tommy Fleetwood (England). Age: 30. Caps: 1 (2018). Record: Won 4, Lost 1, Halved 0. Majors: 0 Made his debut in 2018 and partnered Francesco Molinari to four wins, three of them against an American pairing containing Woods. Looked to be hitting form at the right time with second place in the penultimate qualifying event in Italy. PA

Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland). Age: 32. Caps: 5 (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018). Record: Won 11, Lost 9, Halved 4. Majors: 4 (2011 US Open, 2012 US PGA, 2014 Open, 2014 US PGA) Won for the first time since 2019 at the Wells Fargo Championship in May. Had a chance to win the US Open at Torrey Pines before eventually finishing seventh. PA

Paul Casey (England). Age: 44. Caps: 4 (2004, 2006, 2008, 2018). Record: Won 4, Lost 3, Halved 5. Majors: 0. Returned to the side after a 10-year absence in Paris in 2018. Won one of his two fourball matches alongside Tyrrell Hatton and halved with four-time major winner Brooks Koepka in the singles. Won the Dubai Desert Classic in January. PA

Tyrrell Hatton (England). Age: 29. Caps: 1 (2018). Record: Won 1, Lost 2, Halved 0. Majors 0 Won for the first time on the PGA Tour in March 2020 at the prestigious Arnold Palmer Invitational and then claimed the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth in October. Started 2021 with victory in Abu Dhabi. PA

Lee Westwood (England). Age: 48. Caps: 10 (1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016). Record: Won 20, Lost 18, Halved 6. Majors: 0 Set to equal Nick Faldo’s record of 11 appearances. Victory in Abu Dhabi in 2020 helped him win the Race to Dubai for the third time. Second in the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Players Championship in March. PA

Matt Fitzpatrick (England). Age: 27. Caps: 1 (2016). Record: Won 0, Lost 2, Halved 0. Majors: 0 Endured an unhappy debut at Hazeltine in 2016 with two defeats. Won the DP World Tour Championship for the second time in December 2020 and lost out in a play-off for the Scottish Open in July. Getty

Bernd Wiesberger (Austria). Age: 35. Caps: 0. Majors: 0 Looked set to move into the automatic qualifying places by winning the Omega European Masters, only to double bogey the 72nd hole and lose by a shot. Went into the final qualifying event needing at least a top-50 finish to make the team and finished in a tie for 20th. Getty

(Wildcards): Ian Poulter (England). Age: 45. Caps: 6 (2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018). Record: Won 14, Lost 6, Halved 2. Majors: 0 Nicknamed ‘The Postman’ because he always delivers a point, Poulter was forced to settle for a vice-captaincy role in 2016 due to injury. Without a win since the 2018 Houston Open and missed the cut in the final qualifying event at Wentworth. AP

Sergio Garcia (Spain). Age: 41. Caps: 9 (1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018). Record: Won 22, Lost 12, Halved 7. Majors: 1 (2017 Masters) A talismanic figure for Europe. Was out of form when given a wild card in 2018 but justified it in style with three wins from four matches to become Europe’s leading points scorer in the contest. PA

Shane Lowry (Ireland). Age: 34. Caps: 0. Majors: 1 (2019 Open) Went into the last event in the final automatic qualifying place but was pushed out by Wiesberger and was unable to finish in the top eight to displace Lee Westwood. Was keen to qualify on merit and save his good friend Harrington from having to give him a wild card. Reuters

Tommy Fleetwood has insisted that the European team is not concerned that they are considered underdogs for the Ryder Cup, which starts on Friday at Whistling Straits.

Europe head into the biennial competition against the USA knowing that the form book suggests it could be a difficult few days for Padraig Harrington's side in Wisconsin.

Europe have an average world ranking of 30 compared to nine for the United States, captained by Steve Stricker, but with seven players back from their 2018 team that lifted the title in Paris, Fleetwood believes they have what it takes to win.

“People keep saying we are underdogs and if you look at the average world rankings then of course we are, but I just don't believe anybody in our team is going into this feeling we are going to lose,” Fleetwood told The Times.

“When you are in that team room and people are standing up to speak, the belief we have in each other is huge. We've seen how we grow and what we are capable of producing as a team.

“It doesn't make a difference to us whether we are favourites or underdogs, we just turn up, gel and, more often than not over the last few years, we have come out and won it.”

The heavyweight showdown was postponed last year because no fans could have attended under 2020 Covid-19 safety rules. And the continuing pandemic means there will be few Europeans in Wisconsin for the 43rd staging of the competition.

“Our players play for the glory of this event,” Harington said. “If there was 40,000 US fans and no Europeans, we'd prefer that than having no fans. That's just the reality.

“We want the noise. We want the excitement. We want the buzz of it all. Yes, the players will have to deal with it and yes, they will have to embrace it. But they wouldn't want the alternative. Having no fans is no fun. They will enjoy it.”

European teams have won nine of the past 12 Ryder Cups, including the most recent in France in 2018, and three of the past six on US soil.

With such veterans as Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter on the squad, as well as world No 1 Jon Rahm, Europe knows what to expect on the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan.

“Europe has a strong team when it comes to experience. That's quite relevant when you're playing an away match,” Harrington said.

“We expect a loud crowd. We expect excitement, and the players should be well-prepared for it. It's not like they haven't seen it before. After all, it is only golf. It's pretty safe inside the ropes. I don't think they need to worry about too much.”