In just over two months, the Ryder Cup will take place in Le Golf International in Paris, France, showcasing the top golfers of the United States and Europe.
The official dates of the match play event are from Sept. 25th to Sept. 30th and even though the team rosters of 12 each are not yet set for each team, there are some big name players in the running to compete for their respective sides.
Currently in the top eight automatic qualifying spots for the United States team, who is lead by captain Jim Fyruk, are golfers (ranked in order as of July, 7th 2018) Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Justin Thomas, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, and Bryson Dechambeau. On the bubble are Webb Simpson, Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, and Brian Harman. The reason for the second four are on the bubble, because if they don’t automatically qualify, they are not guaranteed to be on the team since the team captain gets to decide the team’s final four players.
Speculation is that Fyruk will name Tiger Woods as one of those four players, but that is only speculation. However, Woods is making a huge case for claiming a roster spot on the team due to the fact that he’s been climbing in the automatic qualifying standings, jumping an impressive 11 spots after grabbing the fourth-place finish at the National in June. So, now he sits in 28th place and is showing promise to move even higher.
For the European squad who is led by Thomas Bjorn, the current top four automatic qualifiers (also ranked in order as of July 7th, 2018) are Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Francesco Molinari, John Rahm, Alex Noren, and Rory Mcilroy. Players on the fence for qualifying are Paul Casey, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Thorbjorn Olesen, Ross Fisher, and Sergio Garcia. Unlike with the United States team, the selection to the European team isn’t just based on Ryder cup qualifying points and instead, a European Points list and a World Points list is used. As for rumors on who Bjorn may name as his team’s special qualifiers, nothing really has been speculated.
The final rosters for both the United States and European teams won’t be officially set until early Sept., which means that players competing for roster spots have a bit of time to earn a chance to play in this event. Some upcoming events that will weigh big time on the potential players for both squads include the Dubai Duty Free Irish open this weekend, the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open on July 12th – 15th, the Open Championship on July 19th – 22nd, and the PGA Championship on Aug. 9th – 12th.
It will be interesting to see who will end up playing for both teams and only time will tell what golf stars will be matched up against one another. One thing is for sure though, the competition will be fierce since the golfers who be at the event will be some of the best in the world.
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