Ill wind of change
IF THE race to make Europe’s team for the next Ryder Cup stopped now, it would include Lee Slattery, David Horsey and two of James Heath, Michael Hoey, Oskar Henningsson and Pablo Martin Benavides.
Fortunately it has another year to run but the new names thrown up by the opening qualifying event in Russia are unlikely to be restricted to an unrepresentative one- week snapshot.
There is a changing of the guard afoot in European golf which promises a very different line- up at Hazeltine from the one which triumphed at Gleneagles last year.
Europe can build a team around Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson but do not be surprised if Shane Lowry, Bernd Wiesberger and Danny Willett force their way into Darren Clarke’s side. Other rookies such as Marc Warren, Tommy Fleetwood and Andy Sullivan are on the radar.
There will be other challengers in those who have been there before such as Luke Donald, Francesco Molinari and Paul Casey – if he opts to rejoin the European Tour. Those under the greatest pressure to make way include Jamie Donaldson, who delivered the winning point in Scotland, the local hero Stephen Gallacher and the enigmatic Victor Dubuisson. Graeme McDowell, the rock of Celtic Manor, could also do with a turnaround in his fortunes.
Lee Westwood, one of Clarke’s oldest friends and a mainstay of the past nine teams, is hardly tearing up trees at the moment, nor is the Ryder Cup king himself, Ian Poulter. Westwood is without a top 10 fi nish since March while Poulter has missed four of his last six cuts.
If too many of Clarke’s other big guns start to misfi re, he could have some very tricky decisions to make.
A natural churn in personnel is inevitable but a wholesale overhaul exposing a clutch of wide- eyed rookies – maybe up to fi ve – is a concern. Wiesberger and Willett have enjoyed a taste of the big time with the big- hitting Austrian out in the fi nal group at last year’s USPGA Championship and the Yorkshireman leading this year’s Open at one stage, but both are yet to establish themselves at the very highest level.
This lack of proven depth is a headache for Clarke. Scan the world rankings for the top dozen Europeans and you have to go down to No 45 to fi nd the 12th in Donaldson. There are 23 Americans above him, which gives US captain Davis Love III almost twice as many from which to choose.
He will have a heavyweight on- course leader in Jordan Spieth, who will be a different animal at Hazeltine to the one who made his debut at Gleneagles, and Dustin Johnson will also be back.
Billy Horschel is already a FedEx Cup champion and Brooks Koepka is a rare talent who could really kick on next season.
It was always going to be challenging for Clarke to win on American soil but this far out, the mountain looks ominously steep.