Luke Donald boosts Ryder Cup chances after Wyndham Championship

Luke Donald boosts Ryder Cup chances after Wyndham Championship

Luke Donald has given European Ryder Cup Captain Darren Clarke plenty to ponder after an impressive solo second place finish at the Wyndham Championship over the weekend.

The former World Number One, carded an eye catching 16 under par, falling short of Si Woo Kim’s winning score of -21 who had all but secured victory after a second day round of 10 under.

The Englishman has played his part in three Team Europe Ryder Cup triumphs the firs at Oakland Hills in 2004, then at The K Club (Palmer Course) in 2006 and at Celtic Manor in 2010.

Donald didn’t contend regularly this season, but when he did, he made it count and is now being heavily tipped for a wildcard pick after the automatic places were confirmed on Monday.

After shooting up from 99th to 48th in the FedExCup standings after his second place finish Donald is hoping to keep the momentum going ahead of the Ryder Cup.

He said: “It’s huge. I think I made a big jump here, almost 50 spots. You know, that’s a big deal. It sets me up for the next couple events so I’ll continue the momentum into New York next week.”

Despite the qualification period running through to this week’s Made In Denmark tournament, Rory McIlroy, Danny Willett, Henrik Stenson, Chris Wood, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Rafa Cabrera Bello, Andy Sullivan and Matt Fitzpatrick all secured their places with a tournament to spare.

The three captain’s picks will be announced by Clarke at Wentworth on August 30 and here at TG we think he will opt for experience given that the team already has five rookies in its ranks.