Luke Donald says it’s “all to play for” as the race for qualification for his European Ryder Cup team hots up over the next couple of weeks.
The European skipper is teeing it up in the D+D REAL Czech Masters where he and three of his vice-captains will all be playing with Ryder Cup hopefuls in the first two rounds.
It’s the penultimate qualifying event on the DP World Tour for the European Points List – where Robert MacIntyre currently occupies the third and final automatic spot.
But there’s a host of hopefuls lining up behind him hoping to catch the Scot or at least impress Donald enough to earn a captain’s pick, and they’ll be under observation at close quarters from the captain and his assistants Nicolas Colsaerts and Edoardo and Francesco Molinari.
Donald will play alongside MacIntyre and Alexander Bjork in Prague, while Colsaerts will join Pablo Larrazabal and young Belgian hopeful Adrien Dumont de Chassart, who has just earned his PGA Tour card.
Edoardo Molinari will keep an eye on Yannik Paul and Rasmus Hojgaard while Francesco plays with the Dane’s brother Nicolai Hojgaard and Swedish contender Ludvig Aberg.
With 14 players in this week’s field who could mathematically grab that third automatic qualifying spot from MacIntyre, Donald says it’s all to play for.
“There are definitely some spots open,” said Donald.
“I was looking at the statistics this morning, someone as low as 23rd on the European Points list, if they won this week and next, still have a statistical chance of making that top three on the list
“All to play for, I’d say, and these guys should be chomping at the bit to show up and have some good weeks. The guys on the bubble statistically have the best chance and a strong performance here will go a long way.”
Donald says that he's happy to see possible Ryder Cup candidates trying their best this week to try and impress enough to get on the team for Rome one way or another.
“It's great to see that commitment. It doesn’t go unnoticed. Everyone in their right mind should have playing a Ryder Cup as a goal of theirs.
"People who have played never want to miss one once they’ve been a part of it. Rookies want to understand how special the event is. A lot of guys who should be playing are playing this week and I’m excited to see how the week unfolds.
"A big week for a lot of the guys, I’m excited to see how they’re playing and how the week ends up.”
