Traditionally, the co-ed Junior Ryder Cup teams are a pretty good indicator of which up-and-coming players are going to make the Ryder Cup and Solheim Cup teams down the road. Past rosters have included everyone from Lexi Thompson to Justin Thomas.
The early-week matches between the teenage U.S. and European teams were a victim of the pandemic this year, however. The PGA of America selected a 12-player U.S. team but that squad only played an exhibition at Whistling Straits early week given that the European team could not travel because of ongoing issues related to COVID-19.
For those American players, however, Wednesday at Whistling Straits was certainly still memorable.
In a bit of a twist, the team was divided into three groups of four, and each group was joined by a sports icon appropriate for the Wisconsin-specific names the three squads adopted.
Here’s how they split up:
| Team name | Celebrity | Girls | Boys |
| Bucks | Mike Budenholzer (Milwaukee Bucks Head Coach) | Anna Davis, Julia Misemer | Caleb Surratt, Bryan Lee |
| Badgers | Mark Tauscher (former Packers and Badgers offensive lineman) | Sophie Linder, Alexa Pano | Ben James, Wells Williams |
| Packers | Mark Murphy (Packers president and CEO) | Avery Zweig, Megha Ganne | Luke Clanton, Nicholas Dunlap |
All three teams played 11 holes (Nos. 1-9 and No. 18) with the two best scores on each hole counting as the team score. The matches were paid plenty of attention, with players going off the first tee to the backdrop of a group of fans known as the “American Marshals” (the ones dressed in viking horns and red, white and blue gear) singing and cheering.
The Junior Ryder Cup was reduced to a one-day exhibition at Whistling Straits this year. (Golfweek photo/Adam Schupak)
Interestingly, for their victory, the Packers team received – in keeping with the local theme – a wheel of Wisconsin cheese.
“These kids are amazing,” said Tauscher, who lumped in with the Badgers team. “I just hope not to embarrass anyone, and if I can contribute on one or two holes, I’ll be happy.”