He missed the playoffs. That could help him with the Ryder Cup?
Atlanta, Georgia – It is widely believed that this year’s European Ryder Cup team has completed 92% of the completion, and 11 of the 12 members can book flights to New York in the last week of September.
This is the twelfth place that is getting weirder.
They are familiar faces, and that is the top 11. They all played in the teams that won in 2023, which in itself is extraordinary. They will provide European teams with a level of continuity that will almost never happen from one team to another. In any sport, two years are a long time, especially a sport that is as volatile as golf. But when you read their names below, I bet you nod and talk to yourself Yes, this seems to be right.
Rory McIlroy
Tommy Fleetwood
Jon Rahm
Ludvig Aberg
Robert MacIntyre
Tyrrell Hatton
Sepp Straka
Viktor Hovland
Justin Rose
Shane Lowry
Matt Fitzpatrick
A powerful list, right? Justin Rose was one of the biggest question marks midway through the summer, winning the automatic qualifying match in Memphis. Both Viktor Hovland and Matt Fitzpatrick were missing, respectively. Everyone else fits well, which means returning to Captain Luke Donald’s job looks relatively simple.
But once you try to choose No. 12, things get very interesting.
If you look at the metrics for advanced strokes obtained by DataGolf or the more traditional official world golf rankings, the two most likely options will be British Aaron Rai and Harry Hall. Hall seems to be the stronger choice of the two. He hasn’t missed layoffs since the player, he finished T28 or higher in 11 straight games, his birds have as many birds as the PGA Tour (4.54 per round, T1 with Scottie Scheffler), and he is probably the hottest putter in the world. Rai missed the top 50 cutoff for the tour after the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs, but Hall has been in the Tour title. He is the only European in the Ryder Cup bubble to do so. How can you leave he Leave the team?
Enter Rasmus Hojgaard.
According to his way of completing the 2024 season in Europe – winning the Irish Open, finishing second on the DP World Tour and winning the highest qualifying championship on the PGA Tour – Hojgaard scored the start in the points match. He and his twin brother Nicolai (the 12th member of the 2023 team) may be filmed on Bethpage’s European team.
But with the conversation that took place this summer, the talented Dane gradually disappeared without a personal top 20. Nicolai’s game was also very uneven. The two twins performed well at the Open, but fading into the T14 and T16 over the weekend wasn’t enough to prevent them from missing the top 70 FedEx Cup playoff cut line. (Nicolai ranked 73rd, Rasmus ranked 85th.)
Strangely, this may be in his favor.
After all, Rasmus still dominates No. 8 in the Ryder Cup rankings – the top six are automatically entered. The twins took a week off and then went home to compete in their National Open Danish champion, which is crucially still offering Euro Ryder Cup points. (If you’re an American and missed the FedEx Cup playoffs, there’s nowhere to win points.) So when Rasmus is second (in the final round of the field, there are two Eagles, three birdies, three Taboos and three cypresses and a double), he’s within yelling distances of 7 (straka), 6 (lowry) and 5 (hatton). Here is the position:
4. Rose1545.72
5. Hatton1279.33
6. Lowry1275.51
7. Straka1264.27
8. R.Hojgaard1261.91
9. Aberg1140.44
What do these key points mean? In short, this means that Rasmus is just a good result compared to breaking the top six. Data Whiz Nosferatu first calculated that at this week’s Betfred UK Masters, Rasmus will attack the top six at a two-way T29 or higher. He even advanced to 5th place in the previous 20th, while starting Lowry from the top six.
It’s really weird: The Tour Championship doesn’t offer any Ryder Cup points. So, while Harry Hall could make East Lake a final audition, he couldn’t improve himself. And other potential competitors of Betfred’s British Masters – think Matt Wallace (11th, 869.59 pts), Marco Penge (14th, 761.63 pts), Aaron Rai (15th, 743.31 pts), Nicolai Hojgaard (Nicolai Hojgaard) (25th, 550.86 pts)
So far, it’s so good for Rasmus: He shot the start of three shots below 69 at the Bell Tower. It must be a weird feeling to know that you are the only one who can really make a difference, especially if you skip travel to get them. But now it’s simple: He needs a top 30 to get a spot in the Ryder Cup team. On the other hand, complete outside the top 30? He will still be ranked eighth in the standings, but it is possible to get over with a hotter hand.
As for Hall? He said last week that he had kept in touch with almost no one on the European side, which showed he had gotten rid of the radar. But another top score could put him at risk of Rasmus’ position or have a tough conversation among a more mature European star.
It boils down to: if Ramus Hojgaard completes a two-way T29 or better in Batefred’s Masters, he will join the Ryder Cup team. If not? Your guess is as good as mine.
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