Ryder Cup: Six stars of 2018 who are struggling to qualify for the 2020 contest
By Keith Jackson
Last Updated: 19/02/20 7:08am
Both Europe and the USA face losing three players each from their 2018 teams as a number of stars from Le Golf National are struggling to feature in Wisconsin this year.
Rival captains Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker are certain to have some selection headaches when it comes to finalising their teams for the 2020 contest at Whistling Straits, but who are the standout names from Paris who need a turnaround in form to retain their places?
Team Europe
Francesco Molinari
It was always going to be tough for Molinari to match his achievements of 2018, but his career-best year currently seems an all-too distant memory.
The Italian ended 2018 comfortably inside the world's top 10 after a huge win at Wentworth, his first PGA Tour title, and then his major breakthrough in The Open at Carnoustie.
Molinari then produced a record-breaking performance at Le Golf National as he became the first European player in Ryder Cup history to win all five of his matches, four of them alongside close-friend Tommy Fleetwood.
He made a strong start to 2019 with an impressive victory at Bay Hill, and a Masters title beckoned until he found water twice over the final seven holes to open the door for Tiger Woods, and his tie for fifth at Augusta National remains his most recent top-10 finish.
Molinari has missed the cut by a distance in each of his three starts in 2020 and has broken 70 only once in seven rounds, and his world ranking has slipped from sixth at last July's Open to 25th after last week's Genesis Invitational, where back-to-back rounds of 75 left him third from bottom.
Sergio Garcia
The Spaniard celebrated his 40th birthday in January and he has enjoyed a positive start to 2020 with top-10 finishes in Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, but he remains well off the pace in the current European team qualifying standings.
Garcia is just outside the top 40 in the world rankings after a mixed bag of results in 2019, with just one victory at the KLM Open and a further nine top-10s, but his form in the majors since his memorable Masters victory remains a concern.
He missed seven straight cuts before breaking the run at last year's US Open, although 52nd at Pebble Beach and 67th at The Open the following month are not much to shout about.
As it stands, he would be reliant on a captain's pick from Padraig Harrington, who may feel he needs someone of Garcia's experience and outstanding Ryder Cup record if the European skipper is in a similar position to Thomas Bjorn ahead of the 2018 contest.
Five of Bjorn's eight players who qualified on merit were rookies, prompting the Dane to add the vastly-experienced quartet of Garcia, Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson.
The Garcia pick drew criticism from many, but he justified Bjorn's faith with three wins from four matches, and his singles victory over Rickie Fowler made him the most successful European Ryder Cup player of all time.
Alex Noren
One of the standout memories from the 2018 Ryder Cup was Noren putting the icing on Europe's victory cake when he holed a monster birdie putt on the final green to seal a narrow win over Bryson DeChambeau in the last match to finish.
The Swede was inside the world's top 20 at the time after claiming seven European Tour titles in three years, including four in 2016, but he is now in danger of dropping out of the top 100 and looks a long-shot to make the trip to Whistling Straits in September.
A couple of months after winning two points from three matches on his Ryder Cup debut, Noren finished in a tie for ninth at the DP World Tour Championship and has recorded only one top-10 finish since.
Noren is a consistent presence over the weekend and has missed the cut only once in his last 18 starts worldwide, but he has rarely got himself into contention for silverware and needs a strong summer to feature in Padraig Harrington's plans.
Team USA
Jordan Spieth
Arguably the most surprising slide down the world rankings over the last 20 years has been that of Spieth, who now finds himself languishing outside the top 50 after battling with all aspects of his game.
Spieth was tipped as a possible challenger to Jack Nicklaus' record major haul of 18 when he dominated golf in 2015, winning the Masters and US Open while also being in contention at both The Open and PGA Championship as he duelled with Rory McIlroy and Jason Day for world No 1 status.
His stunning final six holes at Royal Birkdale earned him The Open title in 2017, but he has not hoisted any silverware since. Spieth did show signs of a return to form last summer when he strung together three consecutive top-eight finishes, including a third place at the PGA Championship, but he rarely threatened to contend thereafter.
Spieth's four starts so far this year have not been encouraging outside of a tie for ninth at Pebble Beach, with one missed cut and two finishes outside the top 50, and his resolve will be tested to the full in the coming months as he bids to arrest the alarming slide.
Rickie Fowler
It's perhaps a little unfair to have Fowler on this list with him currently ranked 26th in the world, but he has now gone over a year since his last victory in Phoenix and looks short of the confidence that elevated him to world No 7 last March.
His results over the last 10 months have been frustratingly inconsistent, with top-10s at The Masters and The Open mixed with a handful of missed cuts along with too many "middle-of-the-road" performances, and his 2020 campaign has started with a similar pattern.
After a fifth in Hawaii followed by a T10 at The American Express, Fowler just failed to make the weekend at Torrey Pines and finished a distant 10 shots behind Webb Simpson in the defence of his Phoenix title.
Fowler is 15th in the Team USA Ryder Cup standings and will be anxious to avoid being reliant on a pick from Steve Stricker, who may consider that a player with only three wins from 15 matches in his four appearances would make him a risky prospect in Wisconsin.
Bubba Watson
The two-time Masters champion was knocking on the door of the world's top 10 when he regained his place in the US Ryder Cup team in 2018, but Watson is now battling just to stay in the top 50.
The left-hander recorded only four top-10 finishes in his 23 starts in 2019 while also missing six cuts, and Watson has now endured over a year-and-a-half since he last tasted victory at the Travelers Championship.
Watson did, however, make an encouraging start to this year as he followed a tie for sixth at Torrey Pines with a podium finish in Phoenix, but he then took another step backwards when he missed the halfway cut at the Genesis Invitational - an event he has won three times.
Now 41 years of age, Watson currently looks more likely to be among Steve Stricker's backroom team in Wisconsin rather than front and centre on the course, but he has fought back from adversity before and needs a turnaround to match his 2018 form if he is to win a fifth Ryder Cup cap this autumn.
