Less than three months now until the Ryder Cup, less than two until we know the composition of both teams. One thing looks pretty certain: when selection has all been done and dusted, there will surely never have been a European team so crammed with players who have every reason to believe they belong.
The first six players in the points standings will make the team automatically. As of today, they would be Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre, Shane Lowry and Sepp Straka. (McIlroy has already guaranteed his qualification.) That leaves six players to be picked by Luke Donald. Where to start?
Ludvig Aberg has won on the PGA Tour this year, is eighth in the Ryder Cup standings and tenth on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). He was also impressive on debut in Rome last time out. Viktor Hovland is tenth in the standings, 12th on the OWGR, has also won the PGA Tour this year and came close at last month’s US Open. Thomas Detry would be a rookie but he, too, has won on the PGA Tour this season and is 11th in the standings. At ninth is Justin Rose, on the fringes of the world top-20 and only beaten after a playoff with McIlroy at the Masters. Jon Rahm is 17th in the standings and is languishing in 63rd place on the OWGR, but that is down to the fact that he plays LIV Golf. He has won two majors in the past four seasons. Add perhaps a Hojgaard (Rasmus is seventh in the standings, Nicolai played last time), and maybe that’s your dozen. Or Matt Wallace or Matt Fitzpatrick? It won’t necessarily be an easy task for Donald but his options look strong.
As for Team USA, their top six are presently Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, JJ Spaun, Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas. (Scheffler, too, has already qualified.) The American captain is Keegan Bradley, who is presently ninth in the standings and seventh on the OWGR. Especially if he remains in the top-12 in seven weeks’ time, what are the odds that he’ll award himself a wild card? After his win at the Travelers Championship a week ago he said: “This definitely opens the door to play. I don’t know if I’m going to do it or not but I certainly have to take a hard look at what’s best for the team.”
The last man on either side to play as a captain was Arnold Palmer in 1963. The modern Ryder Cup is far from the American cakewalk it mostly was pre-1983, and in terms of elite sport it may be hard to think of a tougher test of multi-tasking than being a playing captain, but having played in two matches and been on the losing team in both (including the ‘Miracle of Medinah’ in 2012, where he got three points from three matches before McIlroy did for him in the singles) it will be mighty tempting for Bradley to give this one a go.