Novak Djokovic celebrates during the 2023 U.S. Open. | Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
Ahead of the 44th Ryder Cup in Rome, plenty of big time athletes and celebrities will tee it up in the Ryder Cup all-star competition.
The stars are headed to Rome for the Ryder Cup.
Along with the 24 golfers who will represent Europe and the United States, a dozen athletes, and celebrities from all over the world will tee it up in the Ryder Cup all-star match on Wednesday, Sept. 27—two days before the opening tee shot is struck for the biennial competition.
2010 Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin will lead the American all-star side, which includes former New York Giants star Victor Cruz.
A native of Patterson, New Jersey, Cruz played collegiately at the University of Massachusetts before bursting onto the scene with the Giants in 2011.
Known for his ‘salsa dance’ celebration, Cruz caught 25 career touchdowns for Big Blue, with 19 coming in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
Joining the former Minuteman are Ukrainian soccer star Andriy Shevchenko, American actress Kathryn Newton, Spanish Formula One driver Carlos Sainz, and Italian Tommaso Perrino, the leading golfer with a disability in Italy. Perrino has limited function in one leg due to an accident in 2001.
Photo by David Cannon/Getty Images
Colin Montgomerie, the winning captain at the 2010 Ryder Cup.
On the flip side will be the European team, led by former Ryder Cup stalwart Colin Montgomerie, who finished runner-up in five major championships. Montgomerie also captained the 2010 European Ryder Cup team.
Representing Europe will be Novak Djokovic, widely regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time.
Djokovic, who hails from Serbia, has won a record 23 men’s grand slam titles. He has also held the number-one ranking for 389 weeks in 12 different years, both records in men’s tennis.
Also on the European team is Gareth Bale, one of the best soccer players of the last two decades. Hailing from Cardiff, Wales, Bale has played for Southampton, Tottenham Hotspur, Real Madrid, and most recently, Los Angeles FC. He also helped Wales qualify for the 2022 World Cup, something the small nation had not done since 1958.
“The Ryder Cup is a special event; having experienced the incredible atmosphere at Europe’s win in 2010, I can’t wait to experience some of that magic again in Rome in a few weeks’ time,” Bale said, per the European Ryder Cup team.
“The All-Star Match, under the Captaincy of Colin Montgomerie, will be an amazing experience, and I’m really looking forward to teeing it up with some great people. It will surely be a top event that fans will enjoy.”
Rounding out the European team will be Garrett Hilbert of Dude Perfect, the popular YouTube channel that has become an internet sensation; Italian surfer Leonardo Fioravanti, and Kipp Popert, a young and talented English golfer who has a form of cerebral palsy called Spastic diplegia that affects his lower body.
“I can’t wait to tee it up in Rome and experience the incredible atmosphere of a Ryder Cup, which has become legendary,” Djokovic said.
“The course looks like a fantastic test of golf, and my playing partner Kipp, a seasoned pro, has won a lot on the G4D Tour recently, so I’m confident we can get a point for the team. It’s going to be a great spectacle for the fans.”
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough too.
