PGA Tour results to affect European Ryder Cup selection

New rules mean performances on the US-based PGA Tour will count directly towards qualifying for the European team for next year’s Ryder Cup in America.

Captain Luke Donald will revert to a single qualifying list, using tournaments on the European-based DP World Tour and the leading US circuit to establish the six automatic picks for his 12-man team.

As expected, events on the breakaway LIV Tour which features Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton – both part of Donald’s winning team last year – will not count.

European players must be members of the DP World Tour to be eligible for Ryder Cup selection, while players on the LIV circuit must pay fines and serve suspensions to remain part of the tour.

Previously, automatic selection was determined by two separate lists. One was drawn from performances solely on the DP World Tour and the other reflected the number of world ranking points garnered during the qualification period.

European Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings described the changes as a “major milestone”.

“This is without question a much cleaner and simpler qualification system than the ones utilised in previous years,” he said.

“And we thank Luke and his vice-captains Edoardo Molinari and Thomas Bjorn for their vital input over the past few months.”

The qualifying period will begin at the British Masters, starting at the Belfry on August 29. Until the end of 2024, points can only be earned at DP World Tour events.

This should encourage the continent’s biggest stars to play home competitions.

But American tournaments will count towards European qualifying from the new year. The high-end ‘Signature Events’, as well as The Players Championship and FedEx Cup play-offs each carry 3,000 points.

The four majors count more heavily – the Masters, US PGA, US Open and The Open are each worth 5,000 qualifying points, while the DP World Tour’s elite Rolex Series tournaments carry 2000 points, the same value as standard PGA Tour competitions.

“I am delighted to be able to confirm the details of the qualification process for our 2025 Ryder Cup team,” said Donald, who retains six captain’s wildcard picks for the trophy defence against Keegan Bradley’s US side at Bethpage Black.

“A lot of work has gone on behind the scenes to get to this point and everything is now focused on doing all we can to retain the trophy in New York next September.”

The qualifying period will run until Sunday, 24 August 2025. The concluding tournament for that date has yet to be decided.