Virginia Water, England – European captain Luke Donald has completed a roster of 12 players at this month’s Ryder Cup, with six players who helped him regain the trophy in Rome two years ago.
Shane Laurie, John Lahm, Sepp Straka, Victor Hofland, Rudig Oberg and Matt Fitzpatrick were announced on Monday as Donald’s selected for the September 26-28 match against the US at Bethpage Black.
Donald takes a familiar lineup in New York and returns 11 of the 12 players who won the European team’s Ryder Cup in 2023. In fact, the only change watching Rasmus Huigard play instead of his twin brother Nikolai.
Hojgaard is the only Ryer Cup rookie to automatically qualify alongside Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Robert Macintyre, Justin Rose and Tyrrell Hatton.
The last time Europe had one rookie was in 2012 when Nicholas Corsaerz helped provide a comeback for the last day, famous for the so-called “miracle of Medina.” That was the last time the team won the Ryder Cup on the road.
“It clearly has a lot of continuity from Rome,” Donald said. “It’s rare for so many people to come back, but it shows just how good these players are.
“But we have a lot of continuity, but this is another animal to play in America. We understand how difficult it is.”
I’ll stick to the rankings
With Lowry, Straka, Aberg, Hovland and Fitzpatrick placing 7-11 in the European Ryder Cup rankings, No. 12 Matt Wallace, who shed tears on Sunday when discussing how much it means being selected for the team, may count the unfortunate thing he missed.
However, the alternative was Rahm, a two-time major champion, former number one in the world and crowned Liv Golf individual champion for the last two years in a row.
The US team has already announced
US Captain Keegan Bradley announced his pick last week, but the big news is that they didn’t include themselves.
Justin Thomas, Morikawa, Colin Young, Ben Griffin, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantray were selected, with Scotty Schaffler, Xander Schaufele, Harris English, Bryson Deccanbaugh, JJ Spawn and Russell Henry joining the team.
The Americans have four rookies: Spaun, Henley, Young and Griffin.
