I’ll be completely honest here: I don’t think there’s a single bad pick by Luke Donald for the 2023 Europe team for the Ryder Cup.
There was already a good base laid down by the automatic qualifying players — Matt Fitzpatrick, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre, Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm are as tough of a six golfers to face as any.
But then you add in tons of experience and team chemistry in names like Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Justin Rose. Some might question including young Ludvig Aberg, but he’s REALLY talented.
Still, some fans named some snubs after Monday’s announcement:
1
Adrian Meronk
He’s won some tournaments in the past year on the European Tour and finished fifth in the points list.
🚨#STUNNING MOVE 🇵🇱 — Adrian Meronk has been snubbed by Luke Donald of a Captains pick:
— Won Italian Open in May ‘23 at Marco Simone (The Ryder Cup venue)
— Won Australian Open in Dec ‘22
— Won the Irish Open in July ‘22
— Top 25 finish at the ‘23 Open Championship, T17 at Match… pic.twitter.com/m3T7xSPCQs— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) September 4, 2023
2
Yannik Paul
Experience, for the most part, trumped good recent play:
What a kick in the teeth for the DP World tour players this is
Yannik Paul
Adrian Meronk
Pablo Larrazabal
Victor Perez…All had great seasons.
Not even looked at
— Chaz (@ChazHKR1) September 4, 2023
@LukeDonald @YannikPaul Yannik Paul has only missed 3 cuts all year on the @DPWorldTour and been skyrocketing up the world ranking. One win and 6 top ten finishes. Much better than players pictured. pic.twitter.com/dfwJWYvAFk
— Charlie Thompson (@CAThompson86) September 3, 2023
3
Victor Perez
He finished behind Paul and Meronk in the Ryder Cup standings, for what it’s worth.
Pas de Ryder Cup pour Victor Perez 🇫🇷. pic.twitter.com/aEn1uhToIs
— Victor Perez Tracker (@vpereztracker) September 4, 2023