Thoughts turn to Wales Open as race for Ryder Cup places begins

The start of the qualifying process to find Europe’s Ryder Cup team may have switched from the mountains to the valleys, with Crans jettisoned in favour of Celtic Manor, but this week’s Wales Open – which offers the first points in a year-long qualifying process – will undoubtedly sharpen the minds of those players intent on breaking on to Paul McGinley’s team.

In truth, the Wales Open won’t be a huge factor in determining the make-up of McGinley’s team. For starters, there is only one player who participated in that miraculous final day fightback by Europe in Medinah last year actually competing this week: Francesco Molinari, alone!

Yet, the fact that the process is finally under way will come as a blessed relief to McGinley, who will add three of his own ‘wild card’ picks to the nine players who eventually emerge through the automatic route.

“This is another significant milestone in my captaincy. It’s going to be an exciting campaign. There’s so many talented players who have the potential to make the team and it will be very interesting for me to watch it evolve,” said McGinley.

"No matter what happens (over the next 12 months), I know I will have 12 players who deserve to be on that team and who will give everything to keep European hands on that trophy," he added.

Points system
The European system will offer four places to players off the European points list (with a point equivalent to every one euro won in prizemoney in official Race to Dubai tournaments up to August 31st next year) and five places to players off the world points list (determined by the amount of world ranking points earned up to the final Race to Dubai counting event on August 31st).

All of which means that this week’s Deutsche Bank championship – the second of the US Tour’s FedEx Cup play-offs – will offer the kickstart to many prospective European players, among them Rory McIlroy (who has slipped to fourth in the latest world rankings) and Graeme McDowell, both of whom are competing in Boston.

McIlroy, who has dropped to fourth in the latest world rankings, moved up the FedEx Cup rankings.

He started the week in New Jersey in 49th and moved up to 36th. In contrast, McDowell, who missed the cut, slipped back from 28th to 44th. The top 70 after this week’s event in Boston will qualify for the BMW in Illinois in a forthnight’s time, after which the top-30 move on to the Tour championship in East Lake, Atlanta.

Pádraig Harrington, who missed out on the FedEx Cup series for the first time in his career, has decided not to compete in the Wales Open and instead will reappear at next week’s Omega European Masters in Crans.

It will be Harrington's first appearance in the Alps since 2000.

In the spotlight
Darren Clarke heads the seven-strong Irish contingent competing in the Wales Open, where McGinley – as Europe's Ryder Cup captain – will again be in the spotlight. Simon Thornton, Peter Lawrie, Damien McGrane, Gareth Maybin and David Higgins are also competing.

Michael Hoey, winner of last month’s Russian Open, will break away from the main tour to headline the Northern Ireland Open Challenge on the Challenge Tour, a circuit where he cut his teeth (winning three times) before moving on to greater things.

Hoey, who has acted as an ambassador for the tournament at Galgorm Castle, said: “I was more than happy to be the face of the tournament . . . I played on the Challenge Tour for a few years so I know how tough the competition is. I’ll have to play very well to contend.

Some of the winning scores on the Challenge Tour this year have been unbelievable, so I’m under no illusions as to how difficult it’s going to be to get into contention, let alone win. There’s a huge difference in the standard from when I was playing five years ago to now.”

Hoey, ranked 185th in the world, has played the parkland course a number of times in the run-up to the tournament but won’t know it anywhere near as well as Gareth Shaw, the attached touring professional.

Shaw has shown good form of his own of late (highlighted by a top-five finish in the Irish Open and a top-10 in the French Open) in his bid to move from the Challenge Tour towards getting a full tour card.

International strength
There are 24 Irish players competing in Ballymena, where the international strength of the field is indicated by the presence of Portugal's Jose-Filipe Lima, currently second in the Challenge Tour rankings and seeking to reclaim his full tour card, and in-form French player Francois Calmels who has won twice on the secondary tour this season.

Another win would enable him to follow American Brooks Koepka onto the main tour, as players who win three times on the Challenge Tour in the same season earn automatic promotion.