European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald says Matt Wallace is “off to a great start” when it comes to qualifying for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
After failing to qualify or receive a captain’s pick in 2018, 2021 and 2023, the Englishman is as determined as ever to secure a spot in next year’s European team.
Despite three DP World Tour wins in 2018, captain Thomas Bjorn opted against the then 28-year-old, who instead chose stalwarts Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey.
In 2021, despite some good performances which included a tie for 4th in the Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour and solo second at the Scottish Championship on the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour), he failed to get the call from then captain Pádraig Harrington.
For Wallace, 2023 didn’t bring much joy either. A late push of form which saw a maiden PGA Tour victory at the Corales Puntacana Championship was more than enough to be considered, but for a third time in a row, the Englishman didn’t make the cut.
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However, fast forward to 2024 and the 34-year-old is once again eyeing a Ryder Cup spot — and he has every right to.
Wallace finished 8th at the British Masters in August — the first event of the Ryder Cup qualification process — before claiming his first DP World Tour victory in six years at the Omega European Masters in Switzerland.
Talking about his decision to not pick Wallace for the 2021 Ryder Cup, Captain Luke Donald felt the Englishman hadn’t performed consistently enough over the season, but has made a great start to his qualifying campaign.
“I think if you asked Matt, he wouldn’t have said it was controversial that he was left out, he knew he didn’t play well enough,” said Donald.
“It takes a lot. You’ve got to be one of the top 12 guys. It takes a lot, but he’s off to a great start. I know he’s very motivated to make that team. He wants to make it, to obviously win in Crans is a great first step towards trying to qualify.”
With qualification ending on 24 August 2025, Wallace will aim to build on his recent success, hoping to secure a top-six spot on the Ryder Cup points list and avoid relying on a captain’s pick.
