The former European Ryder Cup Captain duo of Bernhard Langer and Nick Faldo have now added their weight suggesting changes to the qualifying process ahead of the 2018 showdown in France.
New European Team captain Thomas Bjorn and European Tour CEO, Keith Pelley have hinted of changes to the qualifying process for the 12-man Le National course side.
This comes after Rory McIlroy singled out the scenario of England’s Paul Casey, and who was not a member of the European Tour at the time, but who enjoyed back-to-back second place finishes in the weeks prior to the Ryder Cup and as such was not considered for selection.
Langer captained Europe to a stunning nine-point success in 2004 and the biggest margin of victory by either a GB & I or European side in the then 77-year history of the Ryder Cup.
And the now 59-year old German, who could have gone close to automatic selection this year, spelled out his proposed changes.
“You could argue that the current qualifying process has worked so well in past years, so why change it if it’s not broken?” said Langer.
Nick Faldo and Bernhard Langer now calling for changes to the European Ryder Cup team qualifying process. (Photo – Photostream)
“On the other hand, there seems to be a bit of competitiveness among those Europeans who play the PGA Tour compared to those full-time on the European Tour.
“And while the European Tour wants the European-born players to support their home tour, personally I think it would be best for the Ryder Cup just to have the best players representing Europe no matter where they are playing.
“And to take care of that you have the World Ranking points and by that I mean you pick the top four or five guys off the World Rankings and that would give Paul Casey the chance of qualifying.”
Faldo played in 11 Ryder Cups to earn a record-setting 25 points for Europe and while his 2008 Valhalla side was defeated his comments on European Team qualifying need to be considered.
“The bottom line is when Thomas, Keith or whoever sit at the table they have to agree how does Europe put the best team on the field,” said Faldo.
“You can’t be guided by any qualifying rule book as you’re not going to have the depth so you just can’t leave out what we deem as globally really good players out of the side.
“So, the bottom line is you have got have depth.
“This last Ryder Cup we took six rookies to Hazeltine so we were not at full-strength and that was highlighted.
“All a captain wants is having 10 out of 12 playing really well. In the old day’s you could get away with six or seven playing well but now you need 10 guys playing at the peak of their game and then you have a shot at it.
“Simple as that.”
