– Luke Donald will announce his six picks today (3:00 PM in the peninsula) to complete the European team that will face the United States in the 46th edition of the Ryder Cup, starting on the 26th of September at Behtpage. It might be advisable to wait calmly and patiently for Donald to speak, but let’s take one last look at the possible options, if only for pure amusement.
– After the Omega European Masters concluded yesterday in Switzerland, an overwhelming majority of predictions, forecasts, or prophecies are betting on these six names: Jon Rahm, Shane Lowry, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg, Sepp Straka, and Matt Fitzpatrick. If this were the case, the only change between the Rome 2023 team and the Bethpage 2025 team would curiously be a brother, Nicolai Hojgaard, who was in Rome, for the other twin, Rasmus Hojgaard, who has earned a place in this year’s squad.
– There is one question to be resolved: what’s happening with Sepp Straka? The Austrian is not listed in this week’s Irish Open, nor is he in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth the following week, an event where the entire team was initially expected to be. Let’s remember with all the respect and care in the world that Straka did not play the second FedEx Cup playoff due to a personal issue, and then his performance was very poor in the TOUR Championship (he finished last, far behind the second last).
– At this point, two possibilities are apparent: Donald has told the Austrian that first things first, to address those personal issues, and that they will meet directly at Bethpage. Or it could be that Straka’s absence at Wentworth truly reveals that he is not ready to play either that tournament or a Ryder Cup.
– In fact, there might even be a third possibility: that Straka is not currently listed at Wentworth is a fact, but a spot could still be held for him in the tournament until the last moment, through an invitation, giving him more leeway. Right now, for example, if you check the tournament’s Entry List, you can see that in the 6th category (Professional Tournament Invitations), which distributes three spots, only two are currently used (Brooks Koepka and Billy Horschel).
– If unfortunately Straka could not play the Ryder, the doors would open to other candidates. Assuming Fitzpatrick is already a certainty, the sixth and final pick should be between Marco Penge and Matt Wallace. Also, in this sense, the option of Sergio García would gain traction, but the Spaniard has withdrawn from the entry list of this week’s Irish Open, where he was registered, and this fact, by deduction, speaks for itself: Sergio would have withdrawn from Ireland the moment he knew he would not be at Bethpage.
