Luke Donald told to keep a close eye on three Europeans for the Ryder Cup amid concerns over two players’ form

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You would do well to find anyone who believes that there is anything more than just one place up for grabs on the European Ryder Cup team at Bethpage.

Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood have secured their spots on the Ryder Cup team next month.

Meanwhile, you would imagine that Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Sepp Straka, Shane Lowry, Robert MacIntyre, Viktor Hovland, Matthew Fitzpatrick and Ludvig Aberg will also be involved, whether they qualify automatically or earn a captain’s pick.

If Nicolai Hojgaard is picked, Europe will boast exactly the same lineup as 2023. Meanwhile, Rasmus Hojgaard is eighth in the qualification standings after such an impressive 2024 season.

Three players backed to push for the last spot on the European Ryder Cup team

However, neither player has pulled up any trees on the PGA Tour in 2025. The two players failed to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs – though they have both made a bright start at the Danish Golf Championship. And that may open the door for someone else to snatch that 12th spot.

Speaking on the Golf Channel Podcast, Ryan Lavner admitted that he would not be so sure that one of the Hojgaard twins will be involved, and named three potential candidates who have an opportunity to make a statement.

“I’m a little confused about why you would take Rasmus over Nicolai. I understand if you look at the European Ryder Cup standings, Rasmus is number eight. He’d been inside the top six for the majority of the year and has been bumped out lately because of what has been some pretty pedestrian play, but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Because when you look at Nicolai, he had a better FedEx Cup standing – neither player advanced to the playoffs, but he was just outside the number – he has a much higher Data Golf ranking which takes into account strokes gained data. He was 20th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained total, we look at the totality of his game. And he played in 2023, he’s already played a Ryder Cup at home. He didn’t play particularly well, I think he went 0-2-1 that week did Nicolai Hojgaard. Rasmus has accrued almost all of his points based on his 2024 performance. That has no bearing on how he’s playing right now and how he would potentially be playing next month at Bethpage Black,” he said.

“If you’re Luke Donald, I think you have to be keeping a close eye on three players in particular. One is Thomas Detry whose win, beating a pretty stout field at the Phoenix Open in February, seems like a long time ago, but he is in the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings. He’s playing this week at the BMW Championship. Harry Hall who is also, like Thomas Detry, inside the top 50 playing this week at the BMW, he’s the number one putter on the PGA Tour. He has the most top 10 of any of these would be contenders on the PGA Tour. And again, among the top 50.

“And I think a player like Matt Wallace who narrowly missed out being a pick back in 2018, former winner on the PGA Tour, didn’t have the most consistent season on the PGA Tour, but he’s also supported the DP World Tour. Let’s say he has a good performance next week at the British Masters, he seems like a player potentially who could steal that 12th and final spot. But it does seem most likely that Luke’s just going to run it back with one of the Hojgaards.”

How Europe’s top 12 for the Ryder Cup currently stands

It has to be said that no one is staking a huge claim to Donald for that last spot. Few will forget how Ludvig Aberg won on the DP World Tour in the weeks before Rome to book his ticket.

As things stand, both Rasmus Hojgaard and Wallace find themselves in the top 12. However, that does not take into account that Jon Rahm has not picked up many points throughout the qualifying period.

The standings can almost go out of the window at this stage. Momentum could be so important, particularly for that final spot.

And there is still plenty of time for one player to emerge from the pack and make a case to Donald that the European captain simply cannot ignore.