Luke Donald discusses impact of "skewed" world rankings on his Ryder Cup selection

Team Europe captain Luke Donald will acknowledge the flaws in a ‘skewed’ world rankings system when making his Ryder Cup wildcard picks.

Donald is the latest to question the changes in the rankings mechanism that have been met by widespread condemnation and confusion in the world of golf.

The new ranking calculations have baffled Jon Rahm, expected to be one Donald’s star players later this year in Rome, with the Spaniard feeling his blistering form, including three wins in five starts, has not been rewarded.

Bizarrely, such anomalies in the rankings mean Rahm will only move one place from fourth to third if he seals another victory at the American Express Championship in California on Sunday.

Rahm is tied for the lead going into the final round and favourite to win yet again, but if out-of-contention Patrick Cantlay had won, the American would have jumped from fifth to the summit of the rankings.

Former world No.1 Donald will consider these issues when choosing his six European wildcards, as the rankings impact player automatically qualifying for his team.

The new rankings prioritise the strength of a tournament’s field and is based on the quantity of higher-ranked players at an event rather than the quality of players on show.

And there is also discontent that players on tours other than the PGA Tour are being short-changed in the system that also works against limited-field events.

“If you talk to statisticians they tell you it’s now fairer, but it does seem a bit off,” Donald told the Telegraph. “Maybe it was a little soft one way before and now it has gone too far in the other direction.

“They need to figure it out, because I don’t think it really puts a value on how difficult winning is, wherever a player wins and however big the field is. However, it could take months to mend and it may not be in time for the Ryder Cup and it may still be skewed against those who play on the DP World Tour.”

The automatic spots on Donald’s side will go to the top three on the European Points List and the top three on the World Points list, which is determined by the ranking points collected in an event that does not clash with a Rolex Series tournament.

Donald is keeping tabs on young DP World Tour stars such as Robert MacIntyre and Guido Migliozzi before the Ryder Cup, but is aware that these players could be disadvantaged by the new rankings system and will focus on his own judgement when picking the names who have not automatically qualified.

“It looks harder than ever for some of our young guys to get into that world top 50 and, from there, into the biggest events,” he added. “I want the players to know that I will be taking all this into account when I make my captain’s picks.”

Donald was playing at the Abu Dhabi Championship this week, where a number of European players were looking to stake an early claim to make his side for the duel against USA that is now eight months away.

And Frenchman Victor Perez, who narrowly missed out on the 2021 team, boosted his hopes dramatically as a stunning hole-out from the bunker on 17th lead to victory at the the Rolex Series event.

Perez moved into the projected Ryder Cup qualification spots after holding off a strong field at the Yas Links for the biggest win of his career.