Shane Lowry insists Europe boast the best two players in the world in Jon Rahm and Rory McIlory - but uncertainty still reigns over the involvement of LIV rebels at the Ryder Cup.
Lowry is targeting a spot in Luke Donald's team against USA in September after proving a rare shining light for Europe on his debut in the humiliating 19-9 thrashing at Whistling Straights in 2021.
Donald's side will be spearheaded in Rome by world no.1 McIlroy and red-hot Spaniard Rahm, who was baffled to remain rooted at fifth in the rankings after a stunning victory at the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii last weekend.
And Lowry hopes new Ryder Cup heroes can emerge ahead of this week's Hero Cup, a tournament in Abu Dhabi designed to give hopefuls a chance to gain more experience in a competitive team event.
“Obviously, I want to be a part of Luke’s team in Rome, and I feel like if this gives me any little bit of an edge in Rome, if I’m there, I need to be playing here,” Lowry said before the match between DP World Tour players from Great Britain and Ireland and Continental Europe.
“The two best players in the world are European players at the minute, I feel, with Jon and Rory. It’s up to us, the rest of the lads, to get our game to a level where we are good enough to win the Ryder Cup at the end of the year.”
Lowry hopes to play a key role in a more youthful European side this time round, after Padraig Harrington's transitional team were destroyed in Wisconsin by the dominant Americans.
But there are no LIV golfers included in the Hero Cup squads, with Spaniard Adrian Otaegui, the first LIV player to win a DP World Tour event, a notable absentee.
Otaegui's omission from Donald's Continental Europe team selection hints that LIV players could be overlooked for the biennial joust, regardless of the outcome of a legal ruling over their DP World Tour playing rights next month.
The US team has already confirmed that LIV defectors are ineligible from their side after indefinite suspensions from the PGA Tour, but there is less clarity in the European team.
And European stalwarts Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter could all miss out after joining the contentious Saudi-backed series, with Lowry previously criticising the 'disgusting' levels of money being dished out in Greg Norman's disruptive enterprise.
But there is also a divide in the European camp over LIV involvement this autumn after McIlroy reiterated that he wants those associated in the venture to play no part in Rome.
US Open champion Fitzpatrick is another certainty for Donald's side and is open to LIV players competing if they give Europe the best chance of regaining the trophy.
"I just want to win the Ryder Cup," Fitzpatrick said last month. "I want the 11 best guys we can get. I'm not really too bothered about where they are going to come from."
