Matt Wallace has set his sights firmly on a place in Luke Donald's European Ryder Cup team for the 2025 match at Bethpage Black.
The Englishman has yet to make an appearance at the Ryder Cup, with his most surprising omission coming in 2018 when he wasn't among captain Thomas Bjorn's wildcards despite claiming three wins during the year leading to the selections.
Wallace was a guest on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, where he explained that his absence from the Le Golf National match six years ago initially left him perplexed, although he now understands why he was left out.
He said: "That missing out, especially when Dave McNeilly was caddying for me at the time. He was like, 'We're in.' He was telling me we're in so I obviously thought we'd get there and then couldn't really understand why we didn't, but now I look back and I go, 'OK, rookie, they went on to win, great win, having Sergio there, most points in the Ryder Cup,' those sorts of things.
"I understand more now and I'd never played against the big stars, the big players really on a constant basis. It would have been a little bit of a risk for Thomas to throw me in. Not saying I couldn't have done it but it would have been a risk, so I understand, and I missed the cut at the French Open that year. Those are the excuses as to why I didn't make the Ryder Cup."
'I'm up for the fight!' 💪Matt Wallace is determined to make the Ryder Cup team 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/t1qWi1BGkYOctober 21, 2024
Wallace is once again in the frame, this time for automatic inclusion. The qualifying period began with the DP World Tour's Betfred British Masters at The Belfry in September, where he finished T8, and he followed that with victory at the Omega European Masters to leave him second behind Rasmus Hojgaard in the current standings, with the top six making the team.
Wallace's recent form included victory at the Omega European Masters
Wallace believes that, even if he misses out on automatic qualification, his experience of both the Ryder Cup course and his time on the PGA Tour should see him firmly in Donald's thoughts.
He added: "I came third at the PGA at Bethpage. I was behind Brooks in DJ at Bethpage in 2019. That's not going to be an excuse this time. That can't be an excuse this time.
"I will be a Ryder Cup rookie but I've played on the PGA Tour for five years now against the best players in the world. I've beaten a lot of them. I'm not scared. I'm up for the fight. I feel like I've got the mentality to deal with anything over there and, yeah, I just want to make it."
Wallace continued his strong recent form with the T20 at last week's Andalucia Masters and, though he is not in the field for this week's Genesis Championship, he has already guaranteed his place in the DP World Tour Playoffs phase of the season, which will conclude the 2024 Race to Dubai, and where elevated Ryder Cup ranking points will be on offer.
