How to make a complete mockery of the Ryder Cup wildcard picks
Hello. Welcome to this week’s edition of The Slam. Let’s start with the Ryder Cup wildcards because we are just days away from knowing the final teams that will head to Le Golf National at the end of September.
The European team qualifying process ends at this week’s Made in Denmark – with seven places locked up already and the eighth will be taken by Thorbjorn Olesen barring the unlikely scenario that he finishes outside the top 7 and Eddie Pepperell or Matt Fitzpatrick win.
Then it comes down to captain Thomas Bjorn who will make his wildcard picks on Wednesday. So who does he take? I don’t know why you think I would know the answer to that? He doesn’t even
But myself and the NCG team have a bloody good go at guessing – that will be on the site on Sunday evening once the eight qualifiers are confirmed.
Now it’s when you start looking at who might make the US team that it starts to get really confusing.
Now their eight qualifiers were determined some time ago, but since Billy Horschel missed out on a wildcard spot in 2014 because they were announced before he won two FedEx Cup Play-offs – and the $10 million bonus that comes with it – the rules have changed to allow the captain some more thinking time.
But since this is golf, they obviously haven’t made it as simple as waiting a bit longer. No, three will be announced after this week’s Dell Technologies Championship with the final pick coming six days later after the BMW Championship.
As if that makes much difference.
So who will it be? Well, again, I have no idea because Jim Furyk deleted my number a long time ago but the chat on the other side of the pond is that Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar are all locks.
If that’s true, surely that makes a mockery of this whole process. And when does Furyk announce Kuchar? Because Bryson DeChambeau has won two of the biggest tournaments on the PGA Tour this year so he’s definitely in – so whether it’s BDC or Kuch what’s the point in waiting until after the BMW?
One thing I will say: As a European, I hope Kuchar is in the American team because his record isn’t good enough to warrant a place because his form since The Masters has been woeful. If he took the place of a birdie machine like Tony Finau or the ever-consistent Xander Schauffele then that’s a result for the home team in Paris.
Elsewhere, DeChambeau has been talking up a mooted partnership with Tiger, saying as a pair they would “intimidate people”.
And if you’re thinking DeChambeau and his scientific ways might not be a good fit for the Ryder Cup team room then he quashed those thoughts by revealing in Boston this week that he used to spend his downtime playing ping pong against a robot!
What a guy.
As always, all the latest news and reaction from the Ryder Cup wildcard picks for both teams will be right here on National Club Golfer.com.
But what’s good on there for you to read right now?
Our dedicated Ryder Cup website has exclusive interviews with Colin Montgomerie, Fred Couples and Hale Irwin, as well as Henrik Stenson, Curtis Strange and Thomas Bjorn. And we went to Le Golf National to see what all the fuss is about.
Right, that’s enough. Enjoy your weekend, wherever you happen to be playing.
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Trying to make sense of Europe’s Ryder Cup wildcard options
Alex Perry
Alex has been the editor of National Club Golfer since 2017. A Devonian who enjoys wittering on about his south west roots, Alex moved north to join NCG after more than a decade in London, the last five of which were with ESPN. Away from golf, Alex follows Torquay United and spends too much time playing his PlayStation or his guitar and not enough time practising his short game.
