Why Sepp Straka Is The Only European Ryder Cupper Not In BMW PGA Championship Field

Two years ago at Marco Simone, Luke Donald’s European Ryder Cup team ran out emphatic 16.5-11.5 winners over the US.

The groundwork for that win was laid ahead of time, including all 12 of the team teeing it up at the BMW PGA Championship two weeks beforehand. Notably, every one of them also made the cut in the perfect preparation for the biennial match.

In contrast, the US team wasn’t as ready for the challenge, with Wyndham Clark even admitting at last year’s Procore Championship that he felt “a lot of us weren’t prepared.”

Considering the differing fortunes between the two teams in Italy, it’s no surprise that once again, the DP World Tour’s flagship event will see members of Donald’s Ryder Cup team feature heavily, although, unlike two years ago, one player is missing from the field.

Sepp Straka is the one absentee from the Wentworth event, with the Austrian's omission comes just weeks after he withdrew from the BMW Championship due to a “private family matter” before finishing rock bottom of the leaderboard at the Tour Championship.

Given those circumstances, there was even some doubt as to whether he would be one of Donald’s wildcard picks for the match, but sure enough, he will line up in New York for his second successive appearance.

However, it does beg the question: why is he the only one not playing at Wentworth? Now we have the answer, with Donald explaining his absence at the Irish Open.

He said: “Yeah, everything is okay. I don't think an official announcement has been made, but him and his wife welcomed their baby a few weeks ago prematurely. Everything is going extremely well with their baby. He just doesn't want to be so far away. I think that's only fair.”

Another tactic that paid dividends for Donald two years ago was a scouting trip to the venue, where the team played practice rounds, and a similar trip is planned to Bethpage Black, which the captain confirmed Straka would attend.

He added: “Had many conversations with Sepp. He's very motivated. He's going to be continuing to work on his game hard. He'll join us for the practice trip. But that's the reason why he won't be in Wentworth.”

Donald admitted the trip two years ago played a big part in bringing the team together. “Well, it's one thing that I think worked very well for us in Rome,” he explained. “We had never really had an organised practice trip before.

“Yeah, sort of the building of a unified team really started again on that - I think it was a Monday between Irish and Wentworth, so the Monday of Wentworth we went over and we sort of started to form as a team then.”

While this year’s trip will come after the BMW PGA Championship, he insists this week’s tournament is the ideal opportunity to begin the bonding process.

He explained: “Wentworth is obviously our best event on the European Tour, on the DP World Tour, and I think it's a fun time for me to get with some of the players as well and just start that building process.”