Luke Donald named his six Ryder Cup captain’s picks on Monday afternoon, and there weren’t any shock selections.
However, one DP World Tour player took a potshot at captain Donald ahead of the Ryder Cup showdown with the United States at Bethpage Black.
Donald’s European Ryder Cup team is now confirmed and it has to be said, it looks like a seriously strong side.
Keegan Bradley named his six captain’s picks on Wednesday last week and his selections caused much more of a stir than Donald’s.
There are numerous American players out of form ahead of the Ryder Cup and certain players who just seem to be poor fits for Bethpage Black, specifically Collin Morikawa.
The European team seem to be a more cohesive unit, and a far more settled one at that.
However, that doesn’t mean to say that Donald has completely escaped all forms of criticism.
Luke Donald’s Ryder Cup picks criticized by former LIV Golfer
Donald selected the six names that everyone expected.
Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland were all no-brainers, while Matt Fitzpatrick is a sound selection as well given his experience and fine form over the past two weeks.
However, Pablo Larrazabal, a 459-event DP World Tour veteran, has lambasted Donald and the European selection process in general.
The Spaniard took to his official X account after Donald named his picks.
And he wasn’t happy one little bit it seems.
Larrazabal said: “Again the European Ryder Cup team will go with what captain Luke thinks is the best team. 0 players that play European Tour schedule so what’s the point? Marco Penge deserved a pick and Wallace deserved a pick but only 12 men play. Good luck in NJ…“
Larrazabal’s poor geography aside (New Jersey?), he makes a fair argument, but one that is full of holes.
Pablo Larrazabal well wide of the mark with his Ryder Cup dig
Larrazabal, who played in one LIV event back in 2022, actually made a valid point to an extent, but the truth of the matter is that Donald has 12 incredibly strong players on his team heading to Bethpage.
There is an argument that the captain should only receive four picks, giving the chance for more European-based players to qualify automatically for the team.
However, if that was the way the qualification system worked, the European team would have been significantly weaker as a result.
Who would Marco Penge and Matt Wallace have replaced? Fitzpatrick potentially, but who else?
Larrazabal hasn’t properly thought this one through. The question that needs to be asked of the Spaniard here is why would you want a team heavily weighted towards DP World Tour players for a Ryder Cup in America?
Perhaps his point would have had more substance had the Ryder Cup been in Europe this year.
The bottom line is that 99 per cent of European golf fans are more than happy with the six players who were selected by Luke Donald to take on the United States in the Ryder Cup later this month.
Larrazabal’s potshot at Donald and the Ryder Cup selection process sounds very much like sour grapes more than anything else.
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