Meet Team Europe 🇪🇺

With European captain Luke Donald announcing his picks on Monday, both Ryder Cup teams are now set. Here’s a look at the European side:

1. Meet the 2023 European Ryder Cup team

Automatic qualifiers:

• Rory McIlroy

• Jon Rahm

• Viktor Hovland

• Matt Fitzpatrick

• Tyrell Hatton

• Robert MacIntyre

Captain’s picks: 

• Tommy Fleetwood

• Sepp Straka

• Justin Rose

• Shane Lowry

• Nicolai Hojgaard

• Ludvid Aberg

2. Stacked at the top

The Europeans only had one player inside the top 13 of the official world golf rankings heading into the 2021 Ryder Cup (Jon Rahm). This time, they have five (McIlroy, Rahm, Hovland, Fitzpatrick, Hatton).

And, their top three are pretty scary.

• Rory (#2 in the world) had two wins and 13 top tens in the 18 events he played this season on the PGA Tour.

• Rahm (#3) had four wins, including the Masters, and will likely be named the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year.

• Hovland (#4) is perhaps the hottest golfer on the planet winning the BMW and Tour Championships back-to-back in recent weeks.

The bottom line: While one could argue the US team has more depth top to bottom, Europe has a handful of the world’s best players who will be difficult to beat in any Ryder Cup format.

3. Side-by-side comparisons

Speaking of how the US and European sides compare, here’s a look at both teams with players listed in order of their world ranking.

Nick’s thought experiment: If both captains decided to send out their guys for Sunday singles based on world ranking, these would be the matchups. While it would likely never happen exactly this way, I think it’s helpful to show just how close this Ryder Cup might be.

• I’d probably give Europe the advantage at the top and the US the advantage towards the middle. The bottom matches, meanwhile, I just have no idea.

4. Who is Ludvig Aberg? 🇸🇪

Captain Donald’s selection of the 23-year-old Swede Ludvig Aberg was perhaps the biggest story coming out of Monday. And, rightfully so.

Aberg turned pro just three months ago and — as you’ll hear countless times over the next few weeks — he’s the first player ever to make a Ryder Cup team before playing in a single major championship.

Yes, but: Aberg is no scrub. He was the former top ranked amateur in the world. And at Texas Tech, he won the Ben Hogan Award for best collegiate golfer two years in-a-row — a feat only Jon Rahm had accomplished before him.

By the numbers: Aberg’s best finish in his seven PGA Tour events this season was a T4 at the John Deere Classic.

• At the Wyndham Championship in August, he finished T14.

Recent form: What really caught Donald’s attention, however, was Aberg’s play over the last two weeks on the DP World Tour — a T4 at the Czech Masters and a win European Masters.

• Aberg birdied four out of the last five holes last Sunday to shoot a six-under 64 and win by two.

What they’re saying: “[Ludvig] knew he had to perform at a very high level over the last two weeks and he did that,” Donald said, according to Golf Digest. “He knew what was at stake and he was the one who performed. He warranted a pick.”

Of note: If you haven’t seen Aberg hit a golf ball, please take five seconds to do so. It is truly something.

5. MacIntyre 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 and Hojgaard 🇩🇰

Two other names on the European side that might not be familiar are Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre and Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard. So, here’s a bit more on both:

Robert MacIntyre, a lefty, automatically qualified for the team by finishing third in European points.

• He primarily plays on the DP World Tour, where he has two career wins. His most recent victory came at the 2022 Italian Open, which is played at the same course that’ll host this year’s Ryder Cup — Marco Simone.

• MacIntyre captured the golf world’s attention this summer when he shot final round 64 at the Scottish Open (his national championship), which included an incredible birdie on the 18th hole. Rory McIlroy had a magical finish of his own, however, and beat MacIntyre by one.

• MacIntyre, who is playing in his first Ryder Cup, is statistically the lowest ranked golfer on either team (129th), according to Data Golf. The next lowest is Justin Thomas, who is 59th on Data Golf’s ranking.

Twenty-two year-old Nicolai Hojgaard plays on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, where he has two career wins.

• Interestingly, he won the Italian Open in 2021 — the year before MacIntyre.

• Hojgaard’s recent form includes a T6 at the Scottish Open, 3rd at the Czech Masters, and T5 as the European Masters.

• Nicolai has a twin brother, Rasmus, who’s also a professional golfer.

6. Biggest EU snubs

Statistically, Germany’s Stephan Jaeger was biggest snub, having the 9th highest ranking on Data Golf among European players. Sweden’s Alexander Bjork, also unselected, was 10th.

But, Captain Donald not selecting Poland’s Adrian Meronk was the biggest snub/surprise for many.

• Meronk has three wins on the DP World Tour since last summer, including the 2023 Italian Open in May — which, again, is played at Marco Simone.

7. Shane Lowry checks in

Overall, the production value on Monday for the European picks was much higher than the American’s last week — except when they cut to Shane Lowry.

• And this “post” was perfect. 👨‍🚀

8. Gearing up for Marco Simone

If you want to familiarize yourself with Marco Simone before the Ryder Cup starts on September 29, this video from No Laying Up is worth a watch:

9. JT thoughts to-go

Summer may be over, but on Tuesday, Justin Thomas posted an Instagram photo of himself doing swing drills among pool noodles.

“Europe by a million,” one person said in response. (To be fair, Europe’s Tommy Fleetwood and Matt Fitzpatrick have some swing goofy drills of their own.)

The post got me thinking — Yes, Thomas has a lot of pressure to perform in this year’s Ryder Cup. But there’s also a bunch riding on next week’s Fortinet Championship in Napa, California.

• What if Thomas gets a top 5? Or heck, what if he wins? Captain Zach Johnson’s faith in Thomas, who he described as “the heart and soul of Team USA,” would look better even before touching down in Rome.

• On the flip side, what if Thomas misses the cut in wine country? The backlash over the Thomas pick would likely grow even stronger.

That’s all for today. Thanks so much for reading ya’ll.

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We’ll be back next week with our regular Wednesday preview for the Fortinet Championship. Until then! - Nick B.