Written by Stephen Moloney (www.twitter.com/TheCheeky9)

With the Ryder Cup now officially postponed until 2021, it must be a strange time for both Pádraig Harrington and Steve Stricker. Having gotten to within two months of heading to Whistling Straits, the site where two years-worth of planning and strategizing would finally have reached its thrilling conclusion come the second-to-last week of September, only to now suddenly find themselves in a situation where they have to wait another twelve long months before they can pit their respective teams against one another must leave them feeling at something of a loose end.

However, as frustrating as this situation surely is, there is at least one minor upside, amongst all the ‘down’ variety, to the postponement of this year’s match. Because with an extra year between now and the rescheduled match, that means there are twelve whole months for golfers on either side of the Atlantic, both new and old, to earn their way into being inside the ropes on that glorious Friday morning in 2021.

What I’m interested in looking at for this article, though, are three “outside-the-box” rookies for the European team, who may not exactly be at the top of everyone’s list for when they’re trying to find the latest member of Team Europe.

And the reason for this possible oversight?

They’re all operating behind enemy lines.

The Passing of the Guard

If you look at Europe’s domination of the Ryder Cup since 2010, one of the biggest reasons behind their success was the emergence of an incredibly solid core of players who, with some minor fluctuations as players dropped in and out due to form, moved from team to team throughout the ‘10’s. I’m looking at the likes of McIlroy, Poulter, Donald, Rose, Stenson, Garcia, Kaymer, McDowell, Westwood, these big characters who were a near-constant fixture in team rooms – be it as players or vice-captains – from Celtic Manor all the way through to Le Golf National. And when you have a core of players as strong as that one is and with as much experience (and, most importantly, ‘winning experience’) as that one has, it makes the job for each new captain just that little bit easier because you either already have ready-made pairs to send out together (Rose & Stenson for e.g.) or steady hands to send promising rookies out with and guide them through the overwhelming experience that is playing in the Ryder Cup.

Like in any sport, however, time waits for no athlete and, though you can hold back those sands for a little longer in golf, that core of players is now starting to push on a bit. I mean, Poulter, Donald, McDowell, Stenson, Garcia & Westwood are all in their 40’s, with Rose joining them at the end of this month. Now, don’t get me wrong, those guys are all still well able to compete – for God’s sake, Westwood is the oldest of the lot of them at 47 & he won in Abu Dhabi back in January – but it has been firmly shown in the past that performance does tend to dip somewhat once players past that milestone of ’40’.

Of course, we can’t overlook the fact that in recent years players like Rahm, Fleetwood and Hatton have come into different Ryder Cup teams and shown themselves capable of filling that ‘stalwart’ mold thanks to their performances both in and out of the ‘blue & yellow’, but if Europe is to continue to compete in the Ryder Cup – both home and away – it’s imperative that no stone is left unturned in the search for potential talent to step in and step up as that core of players begins to move on. So, with that in mind, let’s take a look at three ‘European Exiles’ plying their trade on the PGA Tour who might have the potential to join Viktor Hovland in representing that circle of stars (because you know full well that Hovland will) next year at Whistling Straits.

Henrik Norlander

Originally from Sweden, the 33-year old Norlander is someone I’ve seen in and around PGA Tour leaderboards all year. Since graduating from Augusta University in 2011, Henrik has somewhat yo-yoed back and forth between the Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour, but regained his card for the 2020 season on the latter – and, all things considered, things have been going pretty well for the Swede. He’s made 11 cuts from 19 events, with a T-5 & T-9 at the RSM Classic & Sony Open respectively, plus he clocked up a T-12 finish at the Rocket Mortgage Classic just two weeks ago. You add up those results with the other finishes he’s had and it sees him sitting 74th in the FedEx Cup with just over $772,000 in his bank account, which isn’t to be sniffed at by any means.

What makes me think Henrik could make a good addition to a Ryder Cup team, though, is the style of game that he plays. Now, for a guy who’s 6”4 and floating around 200 lbs, you’d expect that his game would be very much focused around trying to overpower courses but, oddly enough, that isn’t the case. Instead, whilst averaging a more-than-decent 292.6 yards off-the-tee, Henrik’s strength lies in precision as he’s currently 11th on Tour in ‘Driving Accuracy’ after hitting 583 fairways of a possible 839 (69.49%) and T-27 in GIR % after managing to find 760 of the 1,080 greens he’s faced this season for a nice round total of 70.37%.

So, when I see that kind of consistent accuracy, I could imagine Henrik making for a really solid partner in both foursomes & fourballs. I mean, put him out with someone like Fleetwood or his fellow ‘Henrik’, Stenson? Someone who can get hot with a putter, perhaps? And I think you could be onto a winner.

Now, where Henrik could stand to massively improve his game, though, is on the greens; because it’s all well and good making a nice job of getting to the dancefloor, but to get the big cheques you need to get the ball in the hole – and given he’s currently 146th on Tour in ‘Strokes Gained: Putting’, the big Swede is, obviously, not doing that as well as he could be. As we’ve witnessed countless times before, however, the energy and magic of the Ryder Cup can turn average putters into modern-day Ben Crenshaws overnight, so if Henrik did manage to find his way into a team, he could well find himself suddenly making the utmost of his consistent long game by draining everything in sight.

Sepp Straka

Born and raised in Vienna, Sepp Straka and his family moved to Georgia (the U.S. State, not the European country) when he was 14 years old and, after playing collegiate golf with the University of Georgia, turned professional in 2016. After a couple of years bouncing around the mini-tours, Straka eventually became the very Austrian golfer to secure a PGA Tour card when he finished in a tie for 20th on the 2018 Web.com Tour Finals Money List (now the Korn Ferry Tour) and, looking at how things have gone over the past two & a bit seasons, Sepp has handled the transition to the big leagues pretty well.

In his first season (2018/19), his best results included a T-13 at the Farmers, a T-28 at the U.S. Open, a T-11 at the Rocket Mortgage, a solo 3rd at the Barbasol Championship & a solo 12th at the Barracuda Championship. As for this season? Well, though the Austrian-native has already missed more cuts than he did last season (13 from 20 events, compared to 12 from 25 in 2018/19), he has secured three top 10 finishes (a T-4 at the Houston Open & American Express, plus a T-8 at the Rocket Mortgage) and only grabbed himself a T-14 finish at last week’s Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village – so, decent enough going.

So what makes me think Sepp could be a good addition to a European Ryder Cup team? Well, unlike the 6”4 Norlander before him, the 6”3 Straka tries to make the most of his 220+lb frame by going for a little more distance off-the-tee, as he floats just north of the 300-yard range – a good 8 yards longer than Norlander. With this increased distance, however, comes a lot less accuracy than the Swede manages – as you’d expect – as Sepp is currently 107th on Tour in ‘Driving Accuracy’ after hitting just 466 of 756 fairways this season (61.64%). Despite the fact he may not be finding the short grass as often as I’m sure he’d like to be, however, Sepp has still been managing to find a nice amount of greens this season as he’s currently T-89 on Tour after hitting 659 of 972 greens for a GIR % of 67.80%.

Now, when you look at those numbers (and the same goes for his putting stats) they, admittedly, don’t make for the most fascinating of reading. But this article isn’t about uncovering players who are already ready-to-go and lighting up the stats categories like Viktor Hovland is, for example. It’s about singling out guys who, with a bit of work over the next 12 months, have the potential to possibly make a run at becoming a factor in Pádraig Harrington’s plans. And if he tightens up his driving and manages to get his putter working more consistently over the next year, then with his ball-striking I think the 27-year old Sepp Straka could be one of those all-important ‘utility’ players you need in a Ryder Cup team, as he just strikes me as the kind of player you could just slip in alongside anyone and he’d go out and get a point.

Kristoffer Ventura

With one of the more interesting backstories of the three, Kristoffer was born in Mexico to a Mexican father and a Norwegian mother, spent the first 12 years of his life in Mexico, but then moved to Norway at the age of 12 where he continued to play golf as he’d enjoyed a lot of success in the junior ranks back across the Atlantic. Having represented both Norway and Europe several times throughout his teen years, Kristoffer was then recruited to play college golf with the famous Oklahoma State University, where his teammates included Matthew Wolff and fellow compatriot, Viktor Hovland. 

Whilst the aforementioned Wolff and Hovland have gone on to make more of an instant impression on the PGA Tour (with both of them already with tour victories under their belts), the 25-year old Kristoffer has taken more of a ‘scenic route ’to the big leagues as he qualified for the 2020 season through finishing 4th in the 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Points List. And how have things been going for the Norwegian? Well, honestly, they could be going a lot better. From the 13 events he’s played in this season, Kristoffer has missed 8 cuts, and from those events where he did make the weekend, the best finish he’s managed is a T-18 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

Again, though – as was the case with Straka – this article isn’t about finding the finished article. It’s about finding players with potential. And Kristoffer Ventura obviously has potential as you don’t just get recruited by OSU for the craic. Like, he’s the longest hitter of the three (31st on Tour with an average driving distance of 304.8 yards) and the best putter as he’s currently 4th in ‘Strokes Gained: Putting’, 1st in ‘Average Distance of Putts Made’, 16th in ‘Birdie or Better Conversion %’ & 26th in ‘Birdie Average’. The problem areas? Well, both his accuracy off-the-tee % and GIR % are lower than those of both Straka and Norlander, sitting 129th in ‘Driving Accuracy’ on 59.89% & 136th in GIR % on 66.23% (which, to be fair, isn’t that much lower than Straka).

What’s important, though, is that those issues tee-to-green? They can be fixed by either tweaking his equipment or tweaking his swing. But being 6”3, naturally long off-the-tee (like, to give you some context, he’s only a yard shorter than Tony Finau) and a good putter? Well, if you aren’t those things already, they’re a pretty hard fix. So if he can manage to hold onto his card this year and insure his playing privileges for next season, then with a little work, I see no reason why we shouldn’t be talking about Kristoffer Ventura as a potential Ryder Cup rookie the way we are about Viktor Hovland. Because the foundation is there for him to be a great player, he just needs to put the foot down now and be relentless in trying to make it happen.