Winter is coming, but so is fall. And fall will bring with it one of the most-anticipated Ryder Cups ever when the U.S. faces the European team at Hazeltine just outside Minneapolis, Minnesota, at the end of September.

A lot can still happen with the U.S team this week at The Barclays (the top eight after that tournament will make it automatically), but the captain's picks won't take place until the middle of September.

The European team, on the other hand, is mostly set. The top nine are automatic qualifiers, and those have been decided. European captain Darren Clarke will take three captain's picks next week. Let's look at the top nine which all qualified via world rankings points and European Tour points. All nine of these will play in Hazeltine. Ryder Cup rookies denoted by (R).

  1. Rory McIlroy
  2. Danny Willett (R)
  3. Henrik Stenson
  4. Chris Wood (R)
  5. Sergio Garcia
  6. Rafael Cabrera-Bello (R)
  7. Justin Rose
  8. Andy Sullivan (R)
  9. Matthew Fitzpatrick (R)

There are a lot of unknowns here, but that's a pretty solid list. Clarke's three captain's picks will likely come from a group of Russell Knox, Lee Westwood, Soren Kjeldsen, Tyrrell Hatton, Martin Kaymer, Shane Lowry, Thomas Pieters, Victor Dubuisson and Thorbjorn Olesen.

Clarke all but put his pal Westwood on the team at the PGA Championship.

"The fact that he's almost in the team pleases me greatly because he's a European Ryder Cup stalwart," said Clarke. "He's very, very experienced. He's been my partner in many, many Ryder Cups. I know what Lee Westwood brings to the table, and I know what he brings to the back room, and there's not many guys you'd prefer to go shoulder to shoulder with. He is definitely one of them."

There are going to be at least five rookies going up against the U.S. team this time around. An entirely different look for what has traditionally been a team that includes guys like Ian Poulter and Luke Donald.

"With five rookies currently in, I'll probably be looking towards experience to balance the team," Clarke said at the PGA Championship a few weeks ago. "You know, you've got the likes of Lee Westwood, who has been playing very well again. He's just outside the qualification points at the moment and there are a few other seasoned guys that are right there as well."

There's firepower, though, especially at the top with McIlroy, Garcia, Rose and Stenson. But the U.S. also has an opportunity to take advantage of the relative inexperience of the Fitzpatricks and Woods of this team. Clarke will add Westwood (who he's close to), Kaymer (who has won a Ryder Cup) and then probably one of Knox or Lowry. We will know for sure next week.