No Ryder Cup guarantee for Rahm as Donald passes the buck

Irish Examiner

15-05-2025

There was a lot of deflecting going on regarding the Ryder Cup and the status of Team Europe's second most prominent player. Jon Rahm deflected to captain Luke Donald. Donald deflected to DP World CEO Guy Kinnings. Had Kinnings been brought to the podium at Quail Hollow, he surely would have kicked the can to someone with more authority – perhaps God or Rory McIlroy.
Has Rahm been told not to worry, that he'll be on the team despite currently sitting 29th in points? 'That's a question for Luke. It's his team. Hopefully I can qualify, and we don't have to question it.'
Has Donald been told not to worry, that Rahm (and Tyrrell Hatton) will be eligible to play? 'That's a question for Guy Kinnings. I do not get involved with the politics of that. So my concentration is to get the best 12 players to New York, and hopefully everyone is eligible.'
What was clearly not being said was that there will almost certainly be no scrutiny of the appeal of LIV golfers before October at the earliest and that Spain's Rahm – as well as his LIV Legion XIII teammate Tyrrell Hatton – will be among the 12 best players fitted for blue and yellow uniforms to wear in September at Bethpage Black.
'Well, I haven't given anyone the nod,' Donald said Wednesday ahead of the PGA Championship.
'I certainly think it's a little too early to be giving anyone, like, firm assurances right now. We have three majors, elevated events, plenty of other events, Rolex Series events to play. I want them to go out and feel like they go and earn it. Let's go in and play well.
'But again, we do have a lot of stats. In terms of Jon, he's one of the best players in the world, and I would expect him to be on that team, but I certainly haven't given him those assurances. He still needs to keep going and playing just like everyone else."
Donald kept a straight face through all of that. Hatton, who currently ranks fourth on the European points list, and Rahm will be – barring injury – on Donald's team at Bethpage. They may not be as close to locks at McIlroy and Shane Lowry – currently 1-2 in points – but they're going to be the only two LIV guys playing for Europe (sorry Sergio).
While things could change with three majors still left to play, Donald has a lot of talent and experience he can count on to try to win on the road for the first time since 2012 in the Miracle at Medinah.
Eight Europeans are currently ranked among the top 20 in the Official World Golf Ranking, and every one was a member of Donald's winning team in Rome. Rasmus Højgaard (third in points) is a good bet to replace, if not join, his twin brother, Nicolai.
Veterans from Rome with work to do are Bob MacIntyre, Nicolai Højgaard and Matthew Fitzpatrick, while a handful of Danes (Niklas Norgaard, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen and Thorbjørn Olesen), Englishmen (Matt Wallace and Laurie Canter) and a Belgian (Thomas Detry) jockey for the captain's attention on potentially two available spots.
Donald is dealing from a position of strength with Europeans dominating this season on the big stages, winning eight times on the PGA Tour already including three signature events, the Players and the Masters.
'When you have two or three guys up there – like at the Masters we had obviously Rory, Justin (Rose), Ludvig (Åberg), last week Shane and Sepp (Straka) – there's always going to be one loser, as well, which is the tough part because I'm texting the guys 'hard luck,'' Donald said. 'But inside I'm thinking, this is great, because I've got a few potential guys all playing really well.
'It's a great problem to have. I love the momentum that we have so far. The players always seem to elevate their games in Ryder Cup years, and it's good to see.'
Ultimately when it comes to parsing out his six captain's picks, experience will be a decisive factor. The New York crowds are likely to be more hostile and belligerent than usual. Donald will need to trust his players can handle a cauldron.
'I think I will certainly give a little bit more importance to experience, people who have been able to handle those big moments under the most scrutiny, those major championships, people who can step up, have had chances to win or have won major championships,' Donald said. 'I think it's something I will definitely consider, and it will be something that could give someone an edge if they're on a very similar playing field in terms of statistics.
'I wouldn't say it's one over the other. I think statistics and data is really important, but gut instinct and personality matchups is equally as important.'
That makes this week at Quail Hollow as well as the US Open at Oakmont and the Open Championship at Royal Portrush de facto qualifying events – especially any promising rookies wanting to catch Donald's eye.
'Then obviously the majors are important,' Donald said. 'I think that's the time when everyone gets together on good golf courses and you have stacked fields. Just to see how they're playing in those is another point that we take into consideration quite a lot.'
Meanwhile, Donald's American counterpart Keegan Bradley is trying to draw together what might be a very different looking US. team. He put together a dinner for prospective players in suburban Philadelphia before last week's Truist Championship won by another European, Straka.
Among the invitees were LIV stars Bryson DeChambeau (who attended via Zoom) and Brooks Koepka, who Bradley said 'were in there on points and they played on previous teams.'
Conspicuously not among those invitees was erstwhile 'Captain America' Patrick Reed, who just happens to sit 66 spots higher in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings (25th) than Koepka (91st) and more than 300 spots higher in the Official Golf World Ranking (Reed at 52 and Koepka 354).
'This Ryder Cup and what comes with this, no one cares about what's going on in this side PGA Tour-LIV. We're trying to put the best team together,' Bradley said. 'It could mean there's one LIV guy, two LIV guys, it doesn't matter. We'll see how this year shakes out.'