Paul McGinley believes that one star probably would be preparing to head to Bethpage Black to play in the Ryder Cup had it not been for injury earlier in the year.
There were few surprises when Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald announced their teams for the Ryder Cup. Obviously, on the American side, the big talking point was the captain’s decision to not pick himself for New York.
Donald’s six captain’s picks seemed much more straightforward. The Englishman has ensured that Europe will head to Bethpage with 11 of the 12 players who won in Rome two years ago. The only rookie, Rasmus Hojgaard, was involved in a backroom role as his twin brother Nicolai played at Marco Simone.
Most of Donald’s team are in action at Wentworth this week at the BMW PGA Championship, the flagship event on the DP World Tour.
It appears that there could be a fascinating conclusion to the event, when you consider the makeup of Donald’s ranks for the Ryder Cup.
Injury may have cost one player a spot on the Ryder Cup team
The likes of Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland and Matthew Fitzpatrick went into the final round with a chance of winning. But it was Adrien Saddier and Alex Noren who led the way.
Of course, Noren winning would make the upcoming practice trip to Bethpage all the more intriguing because the Swede has been named as one of Europe’s vice-captains.
Noren won the British Masters in August, and was part of the European team who won the Ryder Cup in Paris in 2018. So it would be quite the statement if he won at Wentworth in an event which features the majority of Donald’s team.
Interestingly, speaking to Sky Sports after Noren’s third round, Paul McGinley tipped the 43-year-old to go on and win.
He also suggested that he probably would have been playing at Bethpage had he not suffered a hamstring injury at the start of the year which ruled him out for around four months.
“Noren’s the obvious guy [to win], he won the British Masters a few weeks ago. He’s had a terrible run with injury and then he came back at the PGA Championship and almost got at it. I think he was top 10 there, first week back,” he said.
“He’s gathered a bit of speed again over the summer and got back on the pace. I think with a longer runway, he probably would have been on the Ryder Cup team again. But he’s now going to be a vice-captain to Luke. He’s the form guy, he’s the guy that won a few weeks ago, had a good finish to the season on the PGA Tour. He’d be the guy you’d look at.”
How Alex Noren has performed since returning from injury just before the PGA Championship
Noren actually finished in a tie for 17th at Quail Hollow. However, he did find himself in the final group on Sunday alongside Scottie Scheffler after a sublime 66 on Saturday in Charlotte.
Interestingly, Noren has not actually played in any other major this year. Nevertheless, he is 32nd in the world rankings and finished his PGA Tour season with two top 10s in a row. As mentioned, he also won at The Belfry last month.
The question would perhaps be which player could have possibly made way for Noren had he been able to make a more sustained charge for a Ryder Cup spot.
Fitzpatrick has had a lot of success later in the year to justify his place. Meanwhile, Sepp Straka‘s two wins on the PGA Tour cannot be overlooked, despite his recent dip in form.
Noren has not won on the PGA Tour, nor has he ever had a top 10 in a major in the States. With that, it seems quite the claim for McGinley to suggest that injury potentially cost him a spot on Donald’s team.
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