The Road To Gleneagles
It’s still a little over a year before the golfing world descends on Gleneagles for the 2014 Ryder Cup matches, but this week marks the start of the qualification process at The ISPS Handa Wales Open. I’m sure the European players at the top of the leaderboard come Sunday at The Celtic Manor Resort, host venue for the last Ryder Cup on British soil, won’t be able to stop their mind skipping forwards a year. The dream begins here.
OK, I’ll concede that this isn’t the business end of qualification, but there’s room to dream in a season that’s seen former stars return to form, and big name players who Captain McGinley would have already been inking in on the team sheet slip down the rankings or completely fall off the face of the earth. I think this may prove a particularly interesting qualification and the door’s wide open.
Why? Well for one thing, no matter how many Captain’s picks are allowed, there always seems to be one less than the number of big names gunning for selection. And, if current form is anything to go by, who’s to say that the players vying for the Captain’s picks don’t include a couple of recent world No.1s – Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald or Martin Kaymer perhaps? Whether or not you share my opinions below, the pool of world-class players that has to be whittled down to just 12 names is rather large. Spoiled for choice, Paul McGinley will have a headache for the next year, but I can already feel it’s likely one or two headline names will find themselves watching from the comforts of an armchair at home.
The Candidates
For what it’s worth, in my opinion there are only four players that look certain of qualification as things stand (and I appreciate a lot can change in a year) – Henrik Stenson, Graeme McDowell, Justin Rose and Ian Poulter. You’d be a brave man to bet against Rory McIlory and Lee Westwood getting in by way of the World Points List (five will qualify via this list, four by the The Ryder Cup European Points List and three wildcards). But that only leaves six places….
And isn’t there always at least one rookie in the side? Perhaps there’ll be more! Matteo Manassero, Jamie Donaldson, Thorbjorn Olesen, David Lynn, Martin Laird, Marcel Siem, Shane Lowry, Jonas Bixt, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano – if you assume just one of these players made the team, and I suspect there might be more, then there are some big names looking vulnerable.
With just a single Rookie in the team, Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald, Martin Kaymer, Peter Hanson, Nicolas Colsaerts, Francesco Molinari and Paul Lawrie are fighting it out for five places – two by right and three at the Captain’s discretion. And what of Paul Casey who has recently returned to form, and the indefatigable Miguel Angel Jimenez who, like one of his favourite wines, seems to get better with age? Of late, he has played some of the best golf of any European golfer.
For the record, my prediction right now would be Stenson, McDowell, Rose, Poulter, McIlroy, Westwood, Donald, Garcia, Casey, Manassero, Olesen, and Kaymer. But who knows what will happen and how wide of the mark I’ll be come 31st August next year.
There’s a wealth of other players I’ve not mentioned – recent Ryder Cuppers among them – and it all adds to the intrigue. However it pans out, I’m certain that Paul McGinley will be happy to be left with a difficult choice.
It’s the start of a long journey from Wales to Gleneagles. Who would make your team?