A Very European Ryder Cup Preview

It’s impossible to contain the excitement that is brewing around the week before the Ryder Cup, so let me give it to you readers straight.

Luke Donald with his Ryder Cup picks. (Image credit: Getty Images)

The Ryder Cup weekend is one of the best in the sporting calendar. Simple as that. There is nothing quite like it really; the emotion, the class shown and the moments it provides the fans with, it just all adds to this momentous occasion of sporting genius.

After a very tight Solheim Cup, the men have a hard act to follow. The Europeans retaining the cup on home turf after a difficult start, ending the competition in a 14-14 draw just epitomises the clutch nature of the match play format.

But the task for the European Men is very different, the must win if they are to bring the trophy back to European shores and I must say, this is one of the most exciting European teams for a long time. I feel like this is a good time to discuss the group that Luke Donald is taking to Rome.

Out of the 12 players, I’d say only Rose and Fitzpatrick aren’t in what could be described as the form of their lives. Justin having only made the cut in 2 of his last 5 tournaments and Fitz only recently returning to some level of form in his last two. Despite Rose’s difficult form, he makes up for it in his experience, a man who bleeds Ryder Cup and is making his 6th appearance seemed to be surprised at his selection and will be very excited to make an impact as soon as he gets a chance.

Fitzpatrick, however, is looking at his third appearance in the esteemed competition and is still yet to gain a point for the team with an overall record of 0-5-0. He will be looking to find the form he was in when he played that shot in the play off against Spieth at the RBC Heritage earlier this year.

Looking at the positives though, and trust me there are a lot of them, Europe have Masters Champion Jon Rahm in the fray making up the three Europeans currently sat in the top 4 in the world. Viktor Hovland was looking unstoppable towards the end of last year with an insane comeback to defeat Scottie Scheffler in the BMW Championship achieving 7 birdies on the back 9 alone.

After an emotional end to the last Ryder Cup, McIlroy will be looking to stamp his authority down this year too. Not much else to say about him, he’s Rory fucking McIlroy init.

Recent Ryder Cup legend Tommy Fleetwood returns and his old foursomes partner Francesco Molinari features along with his brother as the vice-captains. The experience of Francesco will surely help the Europeans and add to what is already looking to be such a strong group.

Viewers of the embarrassment at Whistling Straits only two years ago will recall one of the few bright lights in amongst a lot dim ones was the discovery of the Shane Lowry and Tyrell Hatton partnership. Team Europe and Luke Donald should definitely be pairing these two up again in the hopes of taking down a strong group in the foursomes this year. Clutch.

Finally, four new players enter the side in rookies: Straka, Aberg, Højgaard and MacIntyre look to excite the fans after very impressive seasons from each. My pick of the bunch would have to be Sepp Straka though after witnessing his quiet rise on the final day of The Open to finish second in the classic tournament.

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And now, a look at the course. This years Ryder Cup takes place at Marco Simone Golf Course in Rome, the ancient city placed on the horizon is an unbelievable backdrop for the site of this years battle for the trophy. Rather than boring you with details on who designed it and using words that, let’s be honest, nobody understands, I have decided to describe three holes that I think the match plays will be won and lost.

The course is a 71 par, featuring 11 fours, 4 threes and 3 fives with the last two holes on the course being a challenging par 3 and a long par 5, similar to the finale of the Royal Liverpool. That’s about all I have to say on the course overall, here are my three favourite holes on the course.

Hole 5

Simple as this, you can drive the green. I love these type of holes, a short 302 yard par 4 featuring (as is reoccurring on this course) water off the left of the fairway and hugging up to the front left of the green. If not aiming for the green, the tee shot players will be looking for is one more to the right as if the pin is placed anywhere left of the green, the approach shot will be a dangerous one with bunkers awaiting over hit shots off the back of the green. See why I picked this one? Some actual stats here, in 2022 the score average on this hole on the Thursday was 4.3, then by the Sunday it was 3.7.

Hole 8

And now for something slightly different, a long par 4 requiring a difficult 200-225 yard shot over water (see what I mean?) onto a raised putting surface to reach the dance floor in two. Stats show that 11% of players end up in the water at some point on this hole over the weekend, which is why I picked this as an important hole, could easily be a place where a lead is lost causing a change in momentum in a pairing’s round.

Hole 18

Obvious, I know, ‘let’s pick the 18th as an important hole ooo isn’t that so interesting!’, well listen. A 597 yard par 5 ending with, yeah you guessed it, a water hazard to the left of the green provides another exciting hole on this course, and what a place for it to be. When players have made the green in two, they have gained an average 0.52 strokes on a competitor and since 1985 the hole has been halved 52% of the time.

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Overall, I find it hard to look past Hovland, Rory, Rahm and Fleetwood having a big say in this years edition. I’m going with Europe (obviously).

I can’t wait to watch match play golf all weekend and if you’ve made it this far I’m sure you are the same. Thanks for reading and enjoy your weekend!