[Photo: David Cannon]
In a statement released overnight, Ryder Cup Europe announced its qualifying process for the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor in Ireland. In keeping with the theme of a team who in 2025 ran back the same captain and 11 of the same players, its process remains largely unchanged.
RELATED: Jim Furyk has big plans for shaping the US Ryder Cup qualifying process
The highlights:
• The team of 12 players will be split evenly between six qualifiers and six captain’s picks, a system that has been in place since 2023 and lines up with the belief held in both camps that it’s statistically prudent to have as many captain’s picks as possible. The last time Europe had fewer than six captain’s picks came in 2021 at Whistling Straits, where Padraig Harrington went against statistical wisdom and reduced his number of picks from four to three.
• Qualification will last exactly one year, from the end of this month at the British Masters through until the end of August 2027. Unlike the Americans, who have traditionally awarded points for major performance in the “off years”, no points will be awarded for 2026 majors – bad news for Aaron Rai.
• Continuing a change made in 2025, there will be just one points list, in contrast to the old system of separate lists for “European points” and “World points”.
• Even the specific points earned for the various event categories will remain the same, with 5,000 points for majors, 3,000 points for signature PGA Tour events (along with the Players Championship and the FedEx Cup playoffs), 2,000 for “regular” PGA Tour events and DPWT Rolex Series events, 1,500 points for DPWT “Back 9” events, and 1,000 points for DPWT Global Series events and alternate week PGA Tour events. (For full point breakdowns by position, go here.) When this system was put in place in 2025, as the European Points list was abolished, it was notable for how it de-emphasised success on the DP World Tour in favour of success in America.
• As always, you can only earn points as a member of the DP World Tour, but the recent agreement with those still playing on LIV Golf – including, eventually, Jon Rahm – means there will be no eligibility drama.
In the press release, European captain Luke Donald gave several very typically safe and unassailable quotes, like, “We have a lot of talented European players at the moment, some with Ryder Cup experience and others who will be trying to qualify for the first time.”
In all, this is exactly what you’d expect from Europe – as the headline suggests, there’s no need to fix a system that has been wildly successful in a home victory in Rome and capturing the first Ryder Cup away win in a decade at Bethpage last September. Donald has already named Francesco and Edoardo Molinari as vice-captains in a repeat from 2023 and 2025, and even the one deviation from the script, naming Padraig Harrington as the third, looks like a smart political nod to the host country.
The 2027 Ryder Cup will take place in County Limerick from September 17-19, and as far as Europe is concerned, there’s no need to change a thing.
