Newsletter

Which European team at the 2023 Ryder Cup and with which captain?

The American edition of the Ryder Cup 2021 has just ended and observers are already scanning the horizon to guess the European team that could be aligned to win back the much hoped for trophy, in 2023, on the Marco Simone GC course near Rome.

Squashed 19 to 9 by a formidable American team, combining youth and power, Europe is today at a crossroads. If she wants to regain the title in Italy in 2023, she will have to make significant changes and undertake a different approach in the selection criteria.

The judicious example of the six picks made by Steve Stricker the day after the play-offs final of the FedEx Cup, just three weeks before the 43rd Ryder Cup in Whistling Straits, is the perfect synthesis. The US captain has favored here the fit men of the moment while his European counterpart, the Irishman Padraig Harrington, relied on a rusty selection criterion with only three reinforcements: Garcia, Lowry and Poulter.

Donald rather than Westwood as captain?

If the first has perfectly fulfilled his contract (3 points out of 4), the other two, not really at the peak of their form, have brought only one point each in three matches. An observation of failure which leads to a complete review of the European copy and immediately consider a significant redistribution of cards.

From the group present in Wisconsin, it is thus difficult to see how the next European captain (who could be the English Luke Donald rather than his compatriot Lee Westwood, who does not seem very hot to regain control) could do without the current world No. 1, the Basque Jon Rahm, 3.5 points in 5 matches, nor the Norwegian Viktor Hovland, 24 years old, already ready for the PGA Tour (2 wins). Despite his worst Ryder Cup since his debut in 2010 (1 point in 4 matches), Rory McIlroy He should also be on the trip to Rome, just like Sergio Garcia, still as green at 41 and more than ever record holder of points won in the Ryder Cup (28.5).

Fleetwood and Hatton in revenge mode

Much less rare than at Golf National (4 points in 5 matches), the English Tommy Fleetwood, 30, is also the future of this European team, just like Tyrrell Hatton, 30 years old on October 14th, even if the game of the English Bulldog (1.5 points in 4 matches) hardly weighed in the balance.

Who will gravitate around this hard core to which we could perhaps add the Irishman Shane Lowry (if he finds his level of play which had allowed him to win the British Open in 2019) or the Italian Francesco Molinari, hero of the 2018 edition in France (5 matches, 5 victories), barred by physical problems but whose presence at home in 2023 is more than a hypothesis?

The Hojgaard twins, the future of the European team

Among the names that circulate, we can cite the Scots Robert MacIntyre, 25, 54th player in the world, winner in Cyprus last November, and Calum Hill, 26, victorious this summer at the Cazoo Classic (European Tour); the English Matt Wallace, very close to being selected in 2018 by Thomas Bjorn, and Sam Horsfield, twice winner of the European Tour; the Belgians Thomas Detry, 28 years old, and above all Thomas Pieters, 30 years old next January, revelation of the 2016 Ryder Cup in Hazeltine (4 points won in 5 matches).

How not to think of Danish twins too Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard, only 20 years old and already four times winners (3 for Rasmus, 1 for Nicolai) on the European circuit. These two are the closest to the morphotypes in force on the American team at Whistling Straits, combining impressive firepower and the physique of a true athlete.

Paul Barjon, the American touch …

Italian golf, in constant progression, could also place one of its own in the 2023 team. We mentioned above Francesco Molinari (he will nevertheless be 40 years old in 2023) but a boy like Guido Migliozzi, 24 years old, twice winner of the European Tour, 4th in the last US Open, is also a serious contender.

The future looks bright for the young German Matthias Schmid, not yet 24, who has just turned professional (just after the British Open) and has already been on the verge of winning at the Dutch Open (2nd), just like for the Austrian Matthias Schwab, 26 years old, from the European Tour and who now plays regularly on the PGA Tour.

On the French side, finally, Victor perez who has not gone far this year, will certainly be keen to be in the next team, just like Antoine Rozner and Paul Barjon. The latter, a full member of the PGA Tour this season, is perhaps the best equipped to join the European team, a bit like a Viktor Hovland, pure product of US universities, and who has done all its ranges in North America.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Trending