Dame Laura Davies names the golfer she really wanted to be picked for Europe’s Ryder Cup team but missed out

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Luke Donald’s 12-man European squad for the Ryder Cup was never going to have many surprises in it but Dame Laura Davies has admitted to being a touch let down that one European star wasn’t involved.

Donald effectively went with the same 12 from Rome, with only Rasmus Hojgaard replacing his brother in the only change for Team Europe.

Outside of that, Donald stuck to his guns and even though the likes of Matt Fitzpatrick looked in trouble at one point, a resurgence late in the season helped the Sheffield-born star into the team.

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Nevertheless, that means some players were left disappointed.

And according to Dame Laura Davies, there is one man who she felt might just sneak into things.

Dame Laura Davies names the English golfer she was hoping would be at the Ryder Cup

For Dame Laura Davies, watching the Europeans in the Ryder Cup is one of the highlights of her career in the media.

Like most of the panel at Sky, she very much loves the Ryder Cup and deep down, roots for Europe all the way.

Now, ahead of tee-off this week, Davies has spoken about the European team and admitted she’d have liked to have seen English golfer Marco Penge take one of the 12 spots.

‘It [Team Europe] is as strong as it could be,” Davies told Sky Sports. “I was hoping Marco [Penge] was going to get in, but who would you take out? They’re all playing well.

“Look at Matt Fitzpatrick – it’s fabulous how he has played the last six months. I know Rasmus [Hojgaard] had a couple of bad weeks, but he won’t be a weak link and he’ll be ready. I think if Rory, Tyrrell [Hatton], Jon [Rahm] and Tommy [Fleetwood] all play really well, that’s where we win the Ryder Cup.”

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Marco Penge’s form in 2025 as he just misses out on the Ryder Cup

Unfortunately for Marco Penge, he finished 14th in the Ryder Cup standings, meaning he was always going to need a captain’s pick.

Along with a determined Matt Wallace, he was probably one of two players considered by Donald if some of his trusted troops were not up to task.

The likes of Sepp Straka and Matt Fitzpatrick were probably the two most at risk, with Jon Rahm never in any danger of not being selected.

As for Penge, his form in 2025 was excellent and there was a reason he was in with a shout.

He won both the Hainan Classic and the Danish Golf Championship this year, while he had another four top ten finishes, including a second at the Scottish Open.

As for Straka and Fitzpatrick, form at opposite ends of the season got them into the European squad.

Straka won the AMEX in January before adding the Truist in May, while a 7th at the Scottish Open also helped him late in the day.

Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, struggled for a long time but a run of T8, T4, T4, T8 and then T32 at the FedEx St Jude and a T17 at the BMW helped his cause massively.

Come Friday, both Straka and ‘Fitzy’ will be desperate to prove they’ve every right to be there.