We are almost halfway through the Team Europe Ryder Cup Qualification process as Luke Donald’s charges look to defend their crown at Bethpage Black and become the first European Team to win on American soil since 2012.
When Europe suffered a chastening record-breaking defeat to the USA at Whistling Straits four years ago, several question marks were raised as to where European golf was going.
One triumphant win in Rome later and Donald’s men are back in the driving seat heading to New York.
There is a sense of irony that while the DP World Tour product has been continuously chipped away over the last few years, LIV Golf and the PGA Tour alliance has benefited the European Ryder Cup team.
Depth has emerged and Donald will have a wide pool to pick from when he announces his six wildcard selections later this year.
Robert MacIntyre has gone from strength to strength since playing in Rome as has Ludvig Äberg and Nicolai Hojgaard while some Europeans have enjoyed success on the PGA Tour with Matthieu Pavon, Sepp Straka and Thomas Detry all winning within the last twelve months.
It is expected that a core of Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Äberg will make up the core of the European team heading to Bethpage Black.
There is also an argument that if everybody is fit, well and performing on the golf course, that Donald could select the same twelve players .
Europeans have won four of the last five PGA Tour events and occupy four of the top-10 places in the Official World Golf Rankings and five of the top-11.
The current top-6 of the European Ryder Cup points list are Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Hojgaard, Shane Lowry, Ludvig Äberg and Thomas Detry.
On the outside looking in are: Matt Wallace, Niklas Nørgaard, Paul Waring, Laurie Canter and Tommy Fleetwood.
Rookies then occupy 15 of the next 19 places, with only MacIntyre, Fleetwood, Rahm and Justin Rose having Ryder Cup experience in the rest of the top 30.
Also among those who will be hoping for a rookie place is Aaron Rai who performed well at the Hero Cup and has carved out a tidy career on the PGA Tour while veteran Justin Rose has still got it and at present seems likely to make a seventh appearance aged 45.
Rose’s experience could be vital as he and McIlroy (captain Luke Donald too) are the only players likely to make the team who have tasted victory on US soil.
Whoever makes up the twelve players boarding the plane, the removal of Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Paul Casey and Sergio Garcia has opened the door for others to step up to the plate.
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