Only a few hours remain before Luke Donald will announce his Captain’s Picks for Bethpage. The Team Europe leader has come off a very successful campaign in Rome in 2023 after they destroyed the American squad. Considering their domination in Italy and the form of each of the players involved in that team, many believe that Donald might go with almost the same squad in New York. However, the English veteran will have another strong option available at his disposal if he does decide to switch it up.
Fellow Englishman, Matt Wallace, just delivered an emphatic performance in Switzerland. He nearly retained the Omega European Masters title after finishing at T2, 2 strokes behind Thriston Lawrence. After coming so close to a win, Wallace got a bit emotional in the post-tournament interview. And the reason behind his tears was his Ryder Cup aspirations.
After finishing second in his last shot at impressing Luke Donald for a Captain’s Pick, he said, “I’ll never give up on the Ryder Cup. I just won’t.” He is still very eager to convince the Team Europe captain to consider him for the squad. And Wallace has done more than enough to prove that he deserves to be picked. He is ranked 12th on the Ryder Cup standings for Europe.
Matt Wallace is really emotional after a near miss this week at the Omega European and likely narrowly missing out on the Ryder Cup once again:
“I’ll never give up on the Ryder Cup. I just won’t.”
That’s how much it means to these guys. He wants it so, so bad and deserves to… pic.twitter.com/ON8sCD0huL
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) August 31, 2025
Then what more does he need to do to make it to the Team Europe squad? Well, let’s take a look at what the probable team would look like and how Matt Wallace can still make it into the team.
Has Matt Wallace done enough to convince Luke Donald for a Captain’s Pick?
Matt Wallace was certainly brilliant at the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club. The only problem is, Luke Donald was always going to consider Jon Rahm as the 12th man in his squad, no matter where the Spaniard landed on the table. Hence, if Matt wants to make the team, then he will have to replace someone else ranked higher than him. That may be a tall task considering the only man he can realistically switch places with is Matt Fitzpatrick.
If Donald goes by the most recent record, then Fitzpatrick only finished 1 stroke off Wallace in the Omega European Masters. The 35-year-old would have certainly convinced the Team Europe captain if he had won the event in Switzerland. But his failure to retain the title has put him in a difficult position to be considered.
There is another factor that might play in Matt Wallace’s favor. Despite Europe’s dominance in Rome, Matt Fitzpatrick was one of the few underperforming players the team had at Marco Simone G&CC. With Team U.S. going to Bethpage with 4 rookies, Luke Donald could also throw a curveball at them and pick Wallace for Team Europe. Their unfamiliarity with the 35-year-old will make it difficult for Keegan Bradley to plan against him. That will give the Europeans a huge advantage on American soil.
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