European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald will name his six wildcards for the match on 4 September. Before then, though, hopefuls have one more chance to impress him at this week’s Omega European Masters on the DP World Tour.
Donald is not in the field for the event, but two of his vice captains, Nicolas Colsaerts and Edoardo Molinari, are, and they will be teeing it up alongside Swedish rookie Ludvig Aberg during the opening two rounds of the event.
Aberg has a made big impression in recent years. As an amateur, he reached the World No.1 position and, in May, claimed his second successive Ben Hogan Award that recognises the top college golfer based on collegiate, amateur and professional results. That had only been achieved once before, by Jon Rahm, who won the award in 2015 and 2016.
Later that month, Aberg secured his PGA Tour card after claiming the top spot on the PGA Tour University rankings.
It didn’t take the 23-year-old long to create a stir after turning pro, either. Among several impressive performances, he finished tied for fourth in July’s John Deere Classic and achieved an identical result in last week’s D+D Real Czech Masters on the DP World Tour.
Aberg’s rise has not been lost on Donald, who admitted in July that he was in contention for a Ryder Cup debut at Marco Simone. With two of his vice captains keeping a close eye on his progress in Switzerland this week, it appears that it is still the case.
Elsewhere in the field, there is a battle for the final automatic qualifying position on the European points list. Robert MacIntyre currently holds the spot, but five other players are in contention to take it at the final hurdle.
The two closest to MacIntyre on the points list are Yannik Paul and Adrian Meronk, and they have been paired with the Scot in the opening two rounds.
There’s intrigue elsewhere, too, with the other three who can still catch MacIntyre, Victor Perez, Rasmus Hojgaard and Adrian Otaegui, also teeing it up together on Thursday and Friday.
Donald will reveal his wildcards on 4 September between 2pm and 3pm BST.
