Don’t look now, but the next Ryder Cup is only 300-some days away. OK, so maybe it’s not that close, but that didn’t stop European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald and a handful of Ryder Cup hopefuls from taking a recent scouting trip to Adare Manor in Ireland.
Justin Rose, a seven-time Ryder Cupper and almost certainly a future captain, was a part of that trip, which he described as “relaxed.”
“It was the first opportunity for Luke to get the wider group together,” Rose said Tuesday, ahead of the DP World India Championship in New Delhi. “I think it was probably an important trip for potential players or players that haven’t played Ryder Cups before, for some rookies to be around the team to start to feel the energy of what it feels like to be in a Ryder Cup.
“And Luke just talked a little bit about how he envisions the strategy and the plan for the next year or so. So it was more of a boys trip. Casual golf, nice dinner, and a little bit of a discussion. It wasn’t very intense. It wasn’t a pressure-packed thing. I think it was just a nice experience for the rookies and for players that haven’t been to Adare Manor before. It was a nice moment to go, Wow, this is going to be a special Ryder Cup. So it was a valuable trip.”
As for that 2027 European Ryder Cup team? Rose said it could be a bit different next year, especially since the DP World Tour just announced LIV Golf members will not be allowed to play the DP World Tour next season, which means they wouldn’t be eligible for the Ryder Cup.
“Players need to make a choice,” Guy Kinnings, the CEO of the DP World Tour, told BBC Sport on Monday. “We have rules and regulations which are there to protect our tour and which our members must all abide by. Players who are not willing to comply with our rules and regulations should not be seeking to join our tour.”
Last year, at Bethpage Black, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton played on the European Ryder Cup team despite their LIV membership due to conditional releases that allowed some LIV players to maintain their Ryder Cup eligibility. But that won’t be an option for players in 2027, although last week we found out Rahm is no longer with LIV and Hatton’s status for LIV Golf 2.0 is unknown; he’s said he has multiple years left on his contract, although we’ve learned that doesn’t always guarantee a player stays.
But as much as the DP World Tour news means LIV players won’t be Ryder Cup eligible, it also means there’s a more realistic pathway for DP World Tour members who previously had to wonder if their potential spot on the team would be taken by someone from LIV.
“I don’t know what the current LIV situation is apart from it seems like a lot of players are beginning to free themselves up to focus on the DP World Tour and put themselves in positions where they might be able to accrue some [Ryder Cup] points,” Rose said. “I think there will be more players available for Luke to select from. The way the Ryder Cup team is selected now six guys qualify and six get picked. … So I think the team may look a little bit different next year than it did this year, or next time because of how things seem to be playing out at the moment. But I haven’t really followed the ins and outs. I know there is a lot of movement.”
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