Breakfast Ball #26: Mid-Year European Report Card

We are halfway through 2024! Time to do a review of the first 6 months of the year, focusing on the European Ryder Cup team from 2023. Next week, I will focus on who will challenge last year’s team members for a place in the Ryder Cup in 2025.

In This Week’s Newsletter:

European Ryder Cup Team Half-Year Report Card

2024 has brought many ups and downs for European golfers so far. It is hard to commit any of them to failure halfway through the year, but there are definitely some that are on a downward trajectory and will need to get more study in to make sure they don’t fail. Let’s start with the teacher’s pet, Mr. McIlroy.

Rory McIlroy: B+

Starts: 16 | Top 20s: 10 | Top 5s: 7 | Wins: 3

If any other European golfer had the stats above, they would have an A+ report card. After two disappointing finishes in the first two majors of the season, he excelled at the US Open before falling short at the final hurdle. The rest of McIlroy’s season will be defined by how he bounces back from that disappointment.

Jon Rahm: C-

Starts: 11 | Top 20s: 8 | Top 5s: 5 | Wins: 0

Jon Rahm’s massive move to LIV Golf caused significant ruptures in the golfing world last December. However, Rahm is taking time to adopt to life on the break out tour. Despite finishing in the top five on five different occasions on LIV, he has yet to get his first win. His major performances have been disappointing, as he barely made the cut at Augusta, did not make the cut at the PGA, and a foot injury ruled him out of the US Open. We are not in the territory where we can consider his move to LIV a mistake for his golfing career yet, but the early indications are not good.

Ludvig Åberg: A

Starts: 14 | Top 20s: 9 | Top 5s: 3 | Wins: 0

It has been quite a year for Europe’s brightest young star in 2024 already. Despite not winning any tournaments, he has established himself as one of the world’s premier ball strikers since he graduated from Texas Tech twelve months ago. The highlight of his year so far was a second place finish at The Masters, where he stuck with Scottie Scheffler for 64 holes before the world number one pulled away.

Viktor Hovland: C+

Starts: 11 | Top 20s: 4 | Top 5s: 1 | Wins: 0

Viktor Hovland had the best year of his career in 2023. Prior to the start of this season, Hovland fired his swing coach Joe Mayo and things started to go awry. After improving his short game dramatically last year, he has lost strokes to the field around the greens in all but one of his eleven starts so far this year. That one start was the brightest spot of his season with a third place finish at the PGA Championship, one week after he rehired Mayo. Sometimes it is best to rely on an old saying: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Tommy Fleetwood: B

Starts: 16 | Top 20s: 9 | Top 5s: 2 | Wins: 1

Tommy Fleetwood is possibly in the conversation to be the best golfer without a PGA Tour win. 2024 marks his seventh year playing full time on the PGA Tour, and he has yet to register a victory. However, he continues to play remarkably consistent golf. Finishes of T3, T26, and T16 in this year’s majors are very respectable. The first win on US soil must come eventually; his victory this year came in the first event of the year on the DP World Tour, the Dubai Invitational.

Tyrrell Hatton: B+

Starts: 15 | Top 20s: 11 | Top 5s: 3 | Wins: 1

Hatton picked up his first win as a LIV golfer two weeks ago in Nashville, dominating the field to win by six. He has made the cut in all three major events, highlighted by a T9 finish at The Masters. A very solid year so far for the Englishman.

Matt Fitzpatrick: C-

Starts: 17 | Top 20s: 6 | Top 5s: 2 | Wins: 0

Matt Fitzpatrick is struggling a little bit in 2024. His overall strokes gained per round is the lowest it has been since 2018, and there isn’t a clear reason why. In his worst year as a PGA Tour player so far (2020), Fitzpatrick finished in the top 20 in 43% of his starts. This year he has finished in the top 20 in 35% of his starts.

Shane Lowry: B+

Starts: 16 | Top 20s: 7 | Top 5s: 3 | Wins: 1

There are two clear highlights for Shane Lowry this year: his record-tying 62 at the PGA Championship, and the Zurich Classic win alongside Rory McIlroy. His putting has been extremely hot and cold which has lead to inconsistent results, but Lowry will probably be happy with the first six months of his year.

Nicolai Højgaard: C+

Starts: 16 | Top 20s: 3 | Top 5s: 1 | Wins: 0

Højgaard currently sits in 73rd place in the FedEx Cup rankings in his first year on the PGA Tour. He probably would have taken that at the start of the year. However, after he finished solo second at the Farmers Insurance Open in January, he will be disappointed with his play since. A brief challenge for the Masters was a definite highlight, but we need to see more consistent play from the young Dane.

Justin Rose: B

Starts: 15 | Top 20s: 2 | Top 5s: 0 | Wins: 0

This is Justin Rose’s 21st year on the PGA Tour. The fact he is still here playing is admirable. His Ryder Cup performance in 2023 was phenomenal and he can do no wrong in my eyes. He is 74th in the FedEx Cup rankings, so without a major drop off in form he will secure a PGA Tour card for his 22nd year.

Sepp Straka: A

Starts: 17 | Top 20s: 8 | Top 5s: 3 | Wins: 0

Sepp Straka is quietly putting up his best year on the PGA Tour to date. The next step for him is to get in the mix at a major tournament. He was tied for second at The Open last year, so that is likely his best chance for major glory.

Bob MacIntyre: A

Starts: 20 | Top 20s: 6 | Top 5s: 1 | Wins: 1

Bob MacIntyre struggled for most of the first half of his rookie year on the PGA Tour. He suffered from homesickness and his on course results reflected his off course emotions. Then, a quick visit home and a game of shinty propelled him to produce the best story of the year on the PGA Tour. A win with his father on the bag to secure his PGA Tour card for the next two years. Wonderful stuff.

Results on Tour:

• 🇩🇪 Marcel Siem won the Italian Open in a playoff against ☘️ Tom McKibbin

  • McKibbin entered the final day six shots off the lead and teed off three hours before the leaders, but fired a six-under 65 to briefly take the solo lead

  • Siem entered the final hole one shot off McKibbin and drained a 22ft birdie putt to force a playoff, then birdied the same hole in the first playoff hole to take the title

  • Siem and McKibbin both qualified for The Open Championship with their results

• Australian Cam Davis won the Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club by one shot for his first win in three years

  • Akshay Bhatia had a 32-foot putt to win on the 72nd hole, but he three-putted to hand the victory to Davis

  • 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Aaron Rai was the best of the Europeans in T2 alongside Bhatia - Rai has jumped from 104th to 58th in the FedEx cup rankings in the last 7 weeks

Coming up this week on Tour

• The PGA Tour moves onto the John Deere Classic in Illinois

  • 🇦🇹 Sepp Straka won this event last year and will return to defend his title

• The BMW International Open takes place in Munich on the DP World Tour

If you have any feedback for the newsletter or would like to get in touch, I would love to hear from you! Email [email protected] or message us on Twitter/X at @BlueHorizonGolf. Thank you for reading!