Ryder Cup 2023 LIVE: Ludvig Aberg announced as one of six wildcard picks for Team Europe
Luke Donald has announced the final six members of Europe’s Ryder Cup team to take on the US in Rome later this month
With the Ryder Cup fast approaching later this month, Luke Donald has today announced his captain’s picks and the final six members of the European team that will take on Team USA in Rome. The US thrashed Europe when they last met at Whistling Straits in 2021, but the Americans have not won away from home since 1993 and a much-improved European team will hope to maintain that record.
Donald has chosen Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Justin Rose alongside rookies Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Nicolai Hojgaard, with Adrian Meronk just misssing out. They join the six automatically qualified players: Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre.
Team USA was confirmed last week with Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas and Sam Burns selected as captain’s picks to join automatic qualifiers Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele
Follow the latest updates from the Ryder Cup announcement below:
Team Europe captain’s pick contenders - Sepp Straka
The Austrian put himself on the Ryder Cup radar last February with victory at The Honda Classic, edging out Shane Lowry for a maiden PGA Tour victory. There were also two play-off losses at the FedEx St Jude and Sanderson Farms Championships but when he went a little cold in mid-2023 to slip down the world points list, his Ryder Cup hopes looked to have gone.
However, two weeks of scintillating golf in July put him right back in the mix as he won the John Deere Classic for another PGA Tour victory and then produced a career-best major performance by far to work his way into a tie for second at the Open at Hoylake. He’s making himself tough for Donald to ignore.
Europe announce team for 2023 Ryder Cup
If Fleetwood, Lowry and Rose do get captain’s picks as suspected, that leaves just three slots remaining. With Team Europe’s changing of the guard after 2021, there’s a host of new names in contention to make their Ryder Cup debut.
Let’s take a look at some of the other frontrunners for a captain’s pick...
Team Europe captain’s pick contenders - Justin Rose
Moved up to a lock with T4 at the British Masters, the former Olympic champion’s choice to resist LIV Golf was rewarded on the PGA Tour with victory at Pebble Beach back in February, snapping a four-year drought. He backed that up with a T6 finish at TPC Sawgrass.
A stalwart of Team Europe across five appearances, totalling a 13-8-2 record, Rose has surely done enough now to snaffle a wildcard spot despite his form dipping in recent weeks and his experience will be invaluable.
Team Europe captain’s pick contenders - Shane Lowry
If ever there was a man made for matchplay, it was Shane Lowry. The Irishman made no secret of his desperation to play at the Ryder Cup ahead of his 2021 debut and he possesses the competitive drive, capacity to step up at the highest-pressure moments and the ability to thrive in raucous atmospheres that could make him a titan of the event.
There’s more to come after picking up just a single point from three sessions at Whistling Straits and although he’s struggled to consistently recapture the brilliance that saw him win the Open at Portrush in 2019, performances such as finishing third at the Masters and winning the BMW PGA Championship last year demonstrate his capability to rise to the occasion. His form is a slight concern after a largely disappointing season in strokeplay events.
Team Europe captain’s pick contenders - Tommy Fleetwood
The Moliwood bromance sadly won’t return on Francesco Molinari’s home turf – on the course at least, with Molinari selected as a non-playing vice-captain – but Fleetwood should be a key cog in Donald’s European machine. After going 4-1-0 in 2018, Fleetwood mustered just two halves in 2021 and sits overall at 4-2-2. Fleetwood has been in flying form since March, even if the wait for a first PGA Tour title goes on.
The Englishman is not just knocking on the door across the pond but absolutely hammering it, with a T3 at the Valspar, a T5 at Quail Hollow, a T3 at the FedEx St Jude Championship, a T6 at the season-ending Tour Championship and an agonising play-off defeat at the Canadian Open, where he could not have come closer to ending his drought.
A stellar major campaign also saw him follow a top 20 at the PGA Championship with a T5 at the US Open and a T10 at Royal Liverpool, where his charge for the Claret Jug fell away over the weekend. He is a man to be feared.
Europe announce team for 2023 Ryder Cup
So those are the six automatic qualifiers. The task now for Luke Donald is to figure out which six other European golfers will be his captain’s picks. 2023 is the first Ryder Cup that Europe has given their captain six picks with Padraig Harrington afforded just three in 2021.
In theory, it allows for more flexibility and the captain to be able to put his stamp on the team but it must have caused Donald a few sleepless nights given the amount of contenders.
To start, let’s look at three names very likely to get on the team...
Team Europe automatic qualifiers - Robert MacIntyre
Having finished third in the European points list, the Scot has secured his place at his first Ryder Cup later this month. MacIntyre’s most eye-catching performance came the week before the Open Championship at his home tournament - the Scottish Open. It was there that the 27-year-old delivered a stirring final-round performance to charge up the leaderboard. He was ultimately pipped to the post by McIlroy but the Scot demonstrated his ability to thrive under pressure.
His form on the DP World Tour has perhaps not been the most consistent when compared to his peers but, at his best, the left-hander can be a feisty and formidable member of the European locker room. Another positive will be his most recent Tour win which came at the 2022 Italian Open, played on the same course as this year’s Ryder Cup.
Team Europe automatic qualifiers - Matt Fitzpatrick
Transformed into an intimidating force off the tee, ‘Fitzy’ now has an aura around him after his 2022 US Open victory. Yet to win a point on golf’s biggest team stage (0-5-0), this is almost the last piece of the puzzle to make Fitzpatrick a transcendent player in European golf. Forced to sit throughout the entire day’s play on Friday in 2018, there will surely be no shortage of opportunities here to further bolster his reputation.
While the driving has caught the eye in the last year or so, Fitzpatrick can be trusted to salvage a hole in matchplay based on his scrambling statistics, leading the PGA Tour last year in scrambling, scrambling from the rough and scrambling from 10-20 yards. He showed a timely return to form by finishing T2 at the BMW Championship. Don’t count him out.
Team Europe automatic qualifiers - Tyrell Hatton
Personality, passion and entertainment. Tyrrell Hatton is not to everybody’s taste, but he has undeniable quality, as proven while flirting once more atop the leaderboard at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, eventually finishing in a tie for fourth, two behind Kurt Kitayama. A runner-up at TPC Sawgrass, Hatton set the table for his best year yet as further top-five finishes came at Quail Hollow, the Byron Nelson and the Canadian Open.
An average Ryder Cup record at 2-3-1, yet Hatton is rounding into form nicely as he enters the prime of his career. Fourth on the PGA Tour last year in strokes gained putting, Hatton is lifting himself into that tier behind McIlroy, Rahm and Hovland.
Team Europe automatic qualifiers - Viktor Hovland
Hovland had only just burst on to the golfing scene when he made his Ryder Cup debut at Whistling Straits two years ago. Despite his undeniable talent, and the fact he was actually Europe’s second-highest-ranked player heading into the event, he looked every bit the rookie.
Forced to play every session due to the Europeans’ lack of quality depth, the Norwegian could only muster half points from one fourballs session and his singles match against fellow greenhorn Collin Morikawa. With two years more experience under his belt, and on a European course, he should be set up for greater success this time round.
He claimed a top 10-finish at the Masters, came agonisingly close to winning the PGA Championship while finishing tied for second and then nabbed a top-20s at the US Open and the Open to cement his place as a truly elite, top-five player in the world.
He then had a simply scintillating August as he produced a remarkable final-round 61 at the BMW Championship (playing alongside McIlroy, incidentally...) to snatch the title away from Scottie Scheffler before blitzing the field to win the season-ending Tour Championship by five strokes, claim the mammoth $18m prize and lay down a serious Ryder Cup marker.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments