WAGs Behind Team Europe: The Partners Who Travel With Europe’s Ryder Cup Contingent

Team Europe arrives at Bethpage Black in New York for the 45th Ryder Cup with a lineup designed for continuity. Captain Luke Donald has kept one of the most stable configurations in Ryder Cup history, naming six automatically qualified players and six wildcard picks, while introducing Rasmus Hojgaard as the lone debutant to replace Nicolai Hojgaard. The six automatic selections are Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, and Hojgaard, who earned his spot through the ranking system. The wildcard contingent is made up of Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, and Matt Fitzpatrick, all veterans of Europe’s Rome victory two years earlier.

Behind the 12 players, a network of partners, families and spouses travels with the team, offering support and sharing in what is often a high-profile, cross-border weekend. Daily Mail Sport has compiled a look at the partners who feature prominently in the Ryder Cup narrative, from long-time spouses to those whose relationships began on the college circuit.

Emily Braisher (Tyrell Hatton) Braisher is deeply immersed in golf culture, having followed Hatton on tour since 2020 after graduating from Nottingham Trent University. She runs a blog called Wife on Tour and has been photographed with Hatton during Europe’s 2018 victory in Paris and again as the team prepared for this year’s contest. The couple became engaged in December 2019 and married in 2021 in Asheville, North Carolina, a ceremony Hatton has recalled with humor about delays and weather interrupting planned shoots, underscoring the blend of personal and public life that often accompanies Ryder Cup weeks. Their family life has also been in the spotlight, including moments shared on and off the course.

Kelley Cahill (Jon Rahm) Cahill and Rahm met in their freshman year at Arizona State University in 2012, when Rahm was a golf scholarship student and Cahill was studying there. The couple wed in Rahm’s hometown of Bilbao in December 2019. They have three children—Kepa, Eneko and Alaia—whose middle name nods to Cahill, and Rahm even designed the engagement ring himself. The Rahm-Cahill family’s story is often cited as emblematic of the way personal and professional lives intertwine within a top-level golf relationship.

Clare Craig (Tommy Fleetwood) Craig is Fleetwood’s partner and, later, his agent, bridging the worlds of sport and representation. The pair reportedly met through Fleetwood’s brother Joe, who had worked with Craig at Hambric Sports Management. Their relationship evolved from a working relationship into marriage in 2017, and the couple welcomed a son, Franklin, in the same year. Craig also has two stepchildren from a previous partnership, illustrating how Ryder Cup life can bring blended family dynamics into the public eye while supporting Fleetwood on tour.

Paige Dean (Sepp Straka) Dean, a trained accountant who moved into acquisitions, met Straka during their university days at Georgia and Auburn, crossing paths on the golf circuit. The couple married in 2021, and they welcomed a son, Leo, two years later, adding a family dimension to Straka’s ascent on the European-based Ryder Cup stage.

Katherine Gaal (Matt Fitzpatrick) Gaal, a Penn State graduate in finance and broadcast journalism, is Fitzpatrick’s partner. A former Miss New Jersey USA runner-up in 2013, she now works as a regional marketing manager for Commvault. Fitzpatrick and Gaal married in October of the previous year, joining the ranks of players whose partners have a significant public presence through social media and events surrounding the Ryder Cup.

Shannon Hartley (Robert MacIntyre) Hartley’s relationship with MacIntyre has remained relatively private, with limited public exposure. MacIntyre has spoken openly about the challenges of relocating to the United States for the PGA Tour, and Hartley’s support has been a constant presence as he made his Ryder Cup debut in Rome two years ago and continued to compete this season.

Wendy Honner (Shane Lowry) Honner, a former nurse who worked with Children’s Health Ireland before marrying Lowry in New York City in 2012, now resides in Florida with their two daughters, Iris and Ivy. The family maintains a home in Ireland, underscoring how Ryder Cup travel can weave together transatlantic ties and hometown roots for players who split time between continents.

Olivia Peet (Ludvig Aberg) Peet is the daughter of former tennis pro Chris Peet and has followed Aberg through the U.S. college system, including a stint at Texas Tech. A freelance tennis coach by training, she has also worked as an associate director of the Athletics Annual Fund and Premium Seating at her alma mater, keeping a professional profile that complements her partner’s rise on the European circuit and in American college golf circles.

Kate Phillips (Justin Rose) Phillips is widely described as the longest-running partner in Rose’s life, having met him in 2000 while she was at IMG. The couple married in 2009 and have two children, Leo and Charlotte (“Lottie”). They launched the Kate and Justin Rose Foundation in 2009 to support children living in poverty in Central Florida. Rose’s on-course rituals—such as using No 99 on his balls in homage to Phillips—highlight how personal milestones can become small traditions tied to competitive performance.

Julie Sander Danielsen (Rasmus Hojgaard) Danielsen’s relationship with Hojgaard remains one of the more guarded partnerships within Team Europe. The couple is Danish, and pictures of them together appear on social media dating back to 2019. Danielsen is believed to be based in Aarhus, and she has supported Hojgaard as his profile has risen on the European circuit.

Erica Stoll (Rory McIlroy) Stoll’s public profile has anchored one of the longest-running high-profile unions in the sport. The couple met in 2012 when Stoll managed championship volunteer operations for the PGA at the Ryder Cup, and they married in 2018. They welcomed daughter Poppy two years later, and their personal life has occasionally made headlines, including a reported separation and subsequent reconciliation in 2023 as McIlroy and Stoll navigated a high-pressure season and major decisions about their family’s future, including a move toward a Wentworth home in England.

Viktor Hovland) Hovland is widely reported to be single at present. The Norwegian star’s private life has drawn attention since 2023, when a public social-media moment captured him with teammates’ partners in the wake of Europe’s Rome victory. A Tinder profile and other lighthearted glimpses into his dating life have circulated in golf circles, but Hovland has kept his dating status relatively low-key during the Ryder Cup cycle.

As Europe heads into the weekend at Bethpage Black, the WAGs and partner network surrounding the players stands as a notable facet of the Ryder Cup experience. The stories range from instructional to intimate, illustrating how top-level golf blends professional competition with the personal narratives that travel alongside it. While the matches will determine the outcome on the weekend, the presence of partners and families adds a broader, ongoing storyline about life on tour and the personal partnerships that help underpin a team seeking to defend its title.