Ryder Cup: Ludvig Aberg earns place in Luke Donald’s Europe wildcard picks

The meteoric rise of Ludvig Aberg will continue with a Ryder Cup debut in Rome later this month, after the emerging Swedish superstar was selected by Luke Donald as one of six European captain’s picks.

Aberg, who only played in his first event as a professional in June, won the European Masters on Sunday to make himself an option Donald could not ignore. The 23-year-old is the standout name among Donald’s wildcard selections. The former top ranked amateur in the world shot 64 to secure victory in Switzerland, in just his ninth tournament since joining the professional ranks.

Donald has turned to experience elsewhere in the shape of Tommy Fleetwood, Shane Lowry and Justin Rose. Sepp Straka, who has risen to No 23 in the world, is an unsurprising choice for Donald after fine summer form on the PGA Tour and a joint-second place finished at the Open.

The final pick looked a straight call between Adrian Meronk and Nicolai Højgaard, and Donald has opted for the latter. Meronk has cause to feel sore about that; the most recent of his three DP World Tour wins came at the Italian Open, over the Ryder Cup venue, in May. Meronk is ranked higher than Højgaard in the world at 51 versus 78.

“I have really tried to enjoy this journey,” said Donald. “We have had so many guys playing so well. It has been amazing to see how much they wanted to be a part of this team. You could make an argument for so many players but I am extremely happy with the 12 we have.”

Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton, Matt Fitzpatrick and Robert MacIntyre had already secured spots as Europe’s automatic qualifiers. The US have not won a Ryder Cup match away from home since 1993 but were victorious by a record 19-9 two years ago.