RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: I fear this is the year the USA run away with the Ryder Cup… America have seven of the 12 who swept to victory two years ago, while Europe lack strength in depth
RIATH AL-SAMARRAI: I fear this is the year the US runs off with the Ryder Cup… America has seven of 12 who went to victory two years ago, while Europe lacks profound strength
- Team Europe and Team USA will face each other in Rome at the end of this month
- Tommy Fleetwood and Shane Lowry were picked by Luke Donald for the Ryder Cup
- Swedish prodigy Ludvig Aberg was called up just three months after turning pro
It was towards the end of Luke Donald’s media duties on Monday when the subject changed from the names at his disposal to the bigger beasts they will face.
With that, the captain of Europe accepted that his twelve men will have to perform better against the Americans on the grass of Italy than on paper.
“I really think they are favorites,” he said. “The last Ryder Cup wasn’t close and a lot of those guys are coming back. We are the underdogs, but I have full confidence in my team.’ It was spoken with a confidence that could at best be characterized as cautious.
The US defeated Europe 19-9 in Whistling Straits and seven of those twelve are back again, with the long-held expectation that this will be the year they win in Europe for the first time since 1993. It remains the easiest vision to support.
In Donald’s favor is a great frontline – with Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland they have three of the top four in the world, complemented by a fine engine room from Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Open runner- with Sepp Straka and Justin Rose.
Luke Donald has selected two debutants in his six Ryder Cup captain squad
Sepp Straka (left) makes his Ryder Cup debut in Rome, where he will be joined by fellow Team Europe debutant Nicolai Hojgaard (right)
The US defeated Europe 19-9 in Whistling Straits and seven of those twelve are back
But the concern is about the depth. Shane Lowry has not had a top-10 finish since February and three of their four rookies are outside the top 50 in the world.
Nicolai Hojgaard and Ludvig Aberg are wonderfully exciting selections that could do well on the Rome podium.
But contrast their potential with the caliber of players left out by Zach Johnson: Keegan Bradley has won twice in the past year on the PGA Tour, and Cameron Young is ranked 17th in the world.
Europe will have to make a big dent in the fourballs and foursomes if they want to regain the Ryder Cup.
Because the fear surrounding the singles is that the underdog’s tail might be too long.