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Matt Wallace says there should be no excuses for missing out on the 2025 Ryder Cup.
He was snubbed for a place on Team Europe in 2018 but has told the Sky Sports Golf podcast that he is ‘up for the fight’ of a renewed qualification bid.
No team has won an away Ryder Cup since 2012, while Team Europe – led by Luke Donald – will hope to defend their title.
“I remember missing out then and Dave McNeilly, who was caddying for me at the time, said: ‘We’re in,’ so I obviously thought we’d get there and couldn’t really understand why we didn’t,” Wallace said.
“Now I look back and think, ‘okay, rookie, they went on to get a great win having Sergio [Garcia] there, most points in the Ryder Cup’, I understand more now.
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“I’d never played against the big stars really, on a constant basis. It would have been a little bit of a risk for Thomas [Bjorn] to throw me in.
“I’m 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. So those were the excuses as to why I didn’t make the Ryder Cup that time.”
Now, though, Wallace, who won a first DP World Tour title since 2018 in September, has outlined why he can’t be overlooked again.
“I came third at the PGA at Bethpage in 2019, I was behind Brooks [Koepka] and DJ [Dustin Johnson], so that’s not going to be an excuse this time,” he said. “That can’t be an excuse this time.
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“I will be a Ryder Cup rookie, but I have 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 and I’m up for the fight.
“I feel like I’ve got the mentality to deal with anything over there [USA]. And I just want to make it.”
Wallace currently sits second in the European Team rankings, behind only Rasmus Hojgaard.
A seat on the plane next year would mark a first time wearing blue and gold in what Wallace says is “the best sporting event in the world.”
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