I'd love to see both Keegan and Luke as player-captains. I would love for them to tee off in the middle of the singles only, to return a bit of the exhibition element to the event. Leave the captaining to your assistants; lord knows that each team will have four or five!
Folks on this board and in other fora say that the RC has become to commercial and corporate, but then decry a return to pre-1980 chill. I don't understand the juxtaposition.
In 1977, Tom Weiskopf was reported to choose hunting over the Ryder Cup. Not a great move, but certainly a healthy one (for him, not the animals.) I don't want qualifiers to opt out of the matches in 2025, but I do hope that captains choices are a bit more sincere. I don't know if Adrian Meronk was ever a serious consideration for Euro2023 (he should have been) but I do know that his denial drove him to VIL. Luke picked three old guys (Shane, Just, Fleet) and three young guys (Lud, Nik, Sepp) with his freebies. Only Rose stood out as not particularly on form.
I'm not a VIL guy in the slightest, but if BdC continues to play at an elite level, it's hard to not put him on the team. With the exception of Scheffler, no Team USA players win 3X year. Does not winning lead to underperformance on a head-to-head, national-team stage? I don't know.
Xander made the point of the number of required dinners being a distraction. If the dinners are four-five hour affairs, that part is understandable, although it impacts all 24 players.
Team Europe point totals unavailable currently, but going off the OWR, you have non-VIL golfers Rory, Lud, Vik, Fleet and Fitz in the top 20. The large Basque is also in there. That gives you six of twelve. Lowry is good for a captain's pick, but Europe really needs both Hojgaards to step up and reach world top 25.
Ultimately, the RC and other team events are exhibition matches. I believe that it is possible for more celebration (and less competition) without killing profit margins.