by If continuity is the key to the success of the Ryder Cup, even the Flegmatic Luke Donald must make cart wheels. This also applies to those who believe that occasional victory is necessary if the event must remain in the field of serious sports competition. The European class of 2025 is now very close to reproducing that which won in Rome in 2023, but with a quirk; Rasmus Højgaard replacing his twin brother, Nicolai. What the United States would give for such a established scenario.
If Donald was so thought, he can keep the change at an absolute minimum. The recreation of a winning environment becomes so much easier when the characters involved are the same. When Europe collapsed for a complete defeat at Whistling Straits four years ago, seven from the team of 12 men sample for the first time an American Ryder Cup. In Hazeltine, in 2016, half of the European contingent of Darren Clarke was a beginner. The United States has again won ease.
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Sunday, Tommy Fleetwood suffered from sorrow in Memphis. There was the consolation of the qualification for Bethpage at the end of September. Fleetwood joined Rory McILroy and a Revigorated Justin Rose has invigorated that guaranteed to be in the team. Robert Macintyre and Tyrrell Hatton will be sure to follow. Shane Lowry could bring Sepp Straka to fall into the six automatic places – the Austrian withdrew from the PGA Tour of this week’s stop in Maryland for family reasons – but the two will be in New York.
Below Straka and Lowry in the ranking, the Rasmus Højgaard, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland, Matt Wallace and Matt Fitzpatrick. The thug element for one of the people inside the dozen of the European points table is that Donald is sure to turn to Jon Rahm, whose passage to the Liv tour has distorted its place in the global ranking and the automatic qualification potential. Rahm posted two TOP-10 in the majors of this year and won three points for Europe in Rome.
There is a reason why Rahm and Hatton’s legal challenge to the European tour group for fines issued for playing on Liv was launched on the road to the Ryder Cup; Donald wants both in his team.
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Long before the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles in 2014, Paul McGinley felt Victor Dubuisson would be in European colors. The Frenchman was a maid, an aberrant value. McGinley discreetly established a relationship between the dubussion and the man who would become his partner of the Ryder Cup, Graeme McDowell. The assimilation process has been successful, but long. Donald has no such problems.
However, there is a range for at least a minimum of late drama. It seems logical to assume that if the European qualifications stopped now, Rahm would replace Wallace, which is 11th. Wallace will have a last opportunity to give Donald Natives to think about the British Masters next week. If the Englishman, who frankly talked about the pain of missing the Ryder Cup in 2018, prevails or even getting closer to the belfry, it would make others vulnerable.
Wallace finished equally in third place when the American championship PGA stopped at Bethpage in 2019. As a recruit, Wallace should give Donald an undeniable cause to choose it. Looking at the names in the frame, it appears a simple case to make a better option than Rasmus Højgaard. The big strike took advantage of a wonderful end of 2024, but did not correctly built on this position of force. The DP World Tour of this week in Denmark seems big for the twin.
Fitzpatrick, probably aware of Wallace’s potential to rise, has the British masters on his schedule, just like Rasmus Højgaard. Fitzpatrick, 12th in the standings, is a major champion and a previous top 10 of the world player who lost spectacular at the start of this year. Fitzpatrick’s rebound was impressive, recently involving a lot of high finishes on each side of the Atlantic, including a part of the fourth at open. Fitzpatrick is still involved in the Fedex Cup playoffs and is going this week to Caves Valley.
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For Donald, these are all relatively trivial problems. Each player he needs on the image of Bethpage is already there. In McILroy, he also has a current leader in order to help Europe win in the United States well before winning a big career slam. A McILroy so extremely encouraged is a dangerous McILroy.
The discussion of fever on the American side surrounds the possibility, in fact the probability, of Keegan Bradley operating as a captain of the game. The double role does not need to be close to the disaster that some people insist, but the lack of clarity around the precision of Bradley and his final plan if qualifying to play was striking.
Those who outside the top 12 of the United States include Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark and Jordan Spieth. Brooks Kopeka, the American PGA champion in 2019, has registered towards non-record since he won the same major in 2023.
Bradley has much more important and deeper decisions to make than his European counterpart. Bryson Dechambeau matured as a player in six years, but while Koepka triumphed Bethpage, his compatriot missed the cup.
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The United States can call on Scottie Scheffler, the real estate object of modern golf. They also order the advantage at home generally so crucial when these teams are playing. Europe has strength in other forms. The stability offered to Donald only increases the already high European hope.
