Qualification for the 2023 Ryder Cup begins with the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth from September 8, when as many as 18 LIV Golf members are expected to compete amid uncertainty over whether they will be allowed to feature in the Europe vs USA contest
Last Updated: 30/08/22 12:40pm
Luke Donald will have three additional Captain’s Picks
Luke Donald will now receive six captain’s picks when building his 12-man team after Ryder Cup Europe announced changes to the qualification process for 2023.
It marks an increase from the three picks Padraig Harrington was allowed when Europe were beaten 19-9 by the United States last year.
The new process, meanwhile, will see three players qualify automatically from the European Points list along with the top three from the World Points list.
Qualification for Team Europe begins at the 2022 BMW PGA Championship from September 8-11, and will draw to a close on September 3, 2023 ahead of the Ryder Cup beginning in Italy on September 25.
Among the changes, the ratio between the highest and lowest ranked events on the DP World Tour when it comes to the points allocation has been reduced from a factor of 6:1 (12,000 points vs 2,000 points) to a factor of 4:1 (6,000 points vs 1,500 points).
The press release does not mention whether LIV Golf players will be banned from selection, with as many as 18 expected to featured at Wentworth next week including the likes of Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood. With that. It remains to be seen if Donald’s increase in picks offers LIV players a route to selection.
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Rory McIlroy says he hates what LIV Golf is doing to the game and says it will be hard to stomach coming up against some of the players at Wentworth in a few weeks time.
“These changes to the qualification process for Team Europe follow in-depth analysis with the team at Ryder Cup Europe and with (vice-captains) Thomas (Bjorn) and Edoardo (Molinari),” said Donald. “I’m delighted that when we presented our thoughts to the Tournament Committee, they were 100 per cent behind them.
“The revised overall process removes the need for points multipliers in the last few months of the qualifying period, and the six picks give me flexibility to ensure we have the strongest line-up at Marco Simone in terms of in-form players, players with Ryder Cup experience, and potential pairings.
“As far as the European Points List is concerned, modifying the points allocation will give an improved chance for DP World Tour members playing predominantly on the DP World Tour to make the Ryder Cup team through one of the now three spots available from that list.
“We have also moved the end of the qualification period forward to give the players the right amount of preparation time once they have made the team.”
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Luke Donald says he is ‘grateful and honoured’ to be given the opportunity to captain the European Ryder Cup team at next year’s tournament.
A factor that has not changed, however, is that no points are available from any tournament scheduled against a Rolex Series event on the DP World Tour.
Guy Kinnings, European Ryder Cup Director, added: “We are delighted with the details of the qualification process for the 2023 European Ryder Cup team announced today. Luke has already proven himself to be a strong and resolute Captain with firm ideas on how to get the best out of Team Europe.
“He proved that throughout this consultation and analysis period and I think the fact that our Tournament Committee were fully behind his thoughts and ideas illustrated how much respect they have for him.
“Every single member of the Team Europe backroom team is excited by today’s announcement and very much looking forward not only to the start of the qualification campaign at the BMW PGA Championship, but also the full 12 month campaign leading up to Rome next September.”