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Changes made to 2018 European Ryder Cup qualifying process

Thomas Bjorn is the new European Ryder Cup captain. (Getty Images)
Thomas Bjorn is the new European Ryder Cup captain. (Getty Images)

After suffering a resounding defeat to the Americans — for just the first time since 2008 — in the Ryder Cup last fall, the European side and the European Tour have jointly announced changes to the qualifying process which they hope will give new captain Thomas Bjorn more opportunity to field a team of 12 players in peak form when the biennial matches resume in Paris next year.

The changes start with a modification of the minimum standard to maintain European Tour membership. The European Tour now only requires players to compete in four European Tour-specific events to maintain status, not counting the majors and World Golf Championships. This is a rule designed to lure European players who are typically on the PGA Tour to regain membership with a lax requirement to keep it. This change is aimed squarely at players like Paul Casey, who decried the change in membership qualification for 2016 as nothing more than window dressing as top players would compete in the eight combined majors and World Golf Championships which, in addition to the five-event minimum, would make up the prior minimum of 13 total sanctioned events. The European Tour has maintained their rule that a player must be a European Tour member to be under consideration for a European Ryder Cup spot.

“The change to our minimum tournament requirement will help many of our members who play around the world but who, at the same time, wish to remain loyal to the European Tour,” said European Tour chief executive Keith Pelley.

The other changes were made to the Ryder Cup qualifying process, including giving the captain four wild-card picks, an increase of one from what Darren Clarke had. The weighting of European Ryder Cup points has also changed, giving more points to events closer to the to-be-determined cutoff to make the team. The qualifying period starts at the D+D Real Czech Masters in early September. The European Tour has also given priority to its new Rolex Series — a grouping of eight European Tour-specific events with purses of $7 million or more — in deciding not to offer Ryder Cup qualifying points to any worldwide events played the same week as those in the Rolex Series.

As for the Americans and new captain Jim Furyk, there has been no announcement of changes to the qualifying process for their side.


Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.