If continuity is key to Ryder Cup success, even the phlegmatic Luke Donald must be doing cartwheels. This also applies to those who believe the occasional away win is necessary if the event is to remain within the realms of serious sporting contest. The European class of 2025 is now very close to replicating the one that won in Rome in 2023, but with one quirk; Rasmus Højgaard replacing his twin brother, Nicolai. What the United States would give for such a settled scenario.
Should Donald be so minded, he can keep change to an absolute minimum. Recreating a winning environment becomes so much easier when the characters involved are the same. When Europe slumped to comprehensive defeat at Whistling Straits four years ago, seven of the 12-man team were sampling an American Ryder Cup for the first time. At Hazeltine, in 2016, half of Darren Clarke’s European contingent were debutants. The US again won with ease.
Tommy Fleetwood suffered heartache in Memphis on Sunday. There was the consolation of qualification for Bethpage at the end of September. Fleetwood has joined Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose – brilliant in his playoff victory last weekend – as guaranteed to be in the team. Robert MacIntyre and Tyrrell Hatton are sure to follow. Shane Lowry may knock Sepp Straka out of the six automatic berths – the Austrian has withdrawn from this week’s PGA Tour stop in Maryland for family reasons – but both will be in New York.
Below Straka and Lowry in the rankings come Rasmus Højgaard, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland, Matt Wallace and Matt Fitzpatrick. The rogue element for one of those inside the top dozen on the European points table is that Donald is sure to turn to Jon Rahm, whose move to the LIV Tour has distorted his place in the world rankings and automatic qualifying potential. Rahm posted two top-10 finishes in this year’s Majors and earned three points for Europe in Rome.
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There is a reason the legal challenge from Rahm and Hatton towards the European Tour Group for fines issued for playing on LIV has been kicked down the road until after the Ryder Cup; Donald wants both on his team.
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Long before the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in 2014, Paul McGinley sensed Victor Dubuisson would be in European colours. The Frenchman was a maverick, an outlier. McGinley quietly built a relationship between Dubuission and the man who would become his Ryder Cup partner, Graeme McDowell. The assimilation process was successful, but lengthy. Donald has no such problems.
There is, however, scope for at least a modicum of late drama. It seems logical to assume that if European qualifying stopped now, Rahm would take the place of Wallace, who sits 11th. Wallace will have a final opportunity to give Donald food for thought at next week’s British Masters. Should the Englishman, who has spoken candidly about the pain of missing out on the Ryder Cup in 2018, prevail or even go close at the Belfry it would make others vulnerable.
Wallace tied for third when the US PGA Championship stopped at Bethpage in 2019. As a rookie, Wallace would have to give Donald undeniable cause to pick him. Looking at the names in the frame, that appears a simple case of making himself a better option than Rasmus Højgaard. The big-hitting Dane enjoyed a wonderful end to 2024, but has not properly built on that position of strength. This week’s DP World Tour event in Denmark feels big for the twin.
Fitzpatrick, doubtless aware of Wallace’s potential to surge, has the British Masters on his schedule, as has Rasmus Højgaard. Fitzpatrick, 12th in the standings, is a Major champion and previous top 10 in the world player who lost his way spectacularly in the early part of this year. His rebound has been impressive, recently involving a batch of high finishes on either side of the Atlantic, including a share of fourth at The Open. Fitzpatrick is still involved in the FedEx Cup playoffs and will tee up this week at Caves Valley.
For Donald, these are all relatively trivial issues. Every player he needs in the Bethpage picture is already there. In McIlroy, he also has an on-course leader with a stated aim of assisting Europe to a win in the US long before he clinched a career Grand Slam. Such a hugely incentivised McIlroy is a dangerous McIlroy.
Fevered discussion on the US side surrounds the possibility, indeed the likelihood, of Keegan Bradley operating as a playing captain. The dual role need not be anything close to the disaster some insist, but the lack of clarity around how precisely Bradley became the captain and his definitive plan if qualifying to play has been striking.
Those outside the US top 12 include Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark and Jordan Spieth. Brooks Koepka, the US PGA champion in 2019, has regressed towards irrelevance since winning the same Major in 2023.
Bradley has far bigger, far more profound decisions to make than his European counterpart. Bryson DeChambeau has matured as a player in six years, but as Koepka triumphed at Bethpage, his compatriot missed the cut.
The US can call upon Scottie Scheffler, modern golf’s immovable object. They also command the home advantage ordinarily so crucial when these teams joust. Europe have strength in other forms. The stability offered to Donald only increases already high European hope. − Guardian
