More points, more prestige, more pressure. This week's Major Championship at Quail Hollow Club could go some way to shaping Luke Donald's European team for Bethpage.
In the race to make a Ryder Cup team, everything counts.
Every event, every round, every hole and every shot plays its part in racking up those vital points and making those vital impressions that could put you on the plane to New York.
But during the Masters Tournament, the US PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship, the pressure becomes even greater because so does the opportunity.
At each of the Majors there are 5,000 qualification points available in total, with 835 of those going to the winner. That compares to 3,000 for a PGA TOUR signature event, 2,000 for a Rolex Series event and 1,000 for a regular DP World Tour event.
The 835 points gained by Rankings leader Rory McIlroy for winning the Green Jacket last month are more points than anyone except Tyrrell Hatton in second has won across the entire campaign, while the 555 points Justin Rose accrued for losing in a play-off moved him from 28th to fourth.
A win this week could move a player from outside the top 100 on the Qualification Rankings into an automatic position.
European Ryder Cup Rankings
*as of 12/05/25
bold denotes those players in an automatic qualifying spot.
To view the European Team Rankings in full, click here.
| Player | Points |
|---|---|
| Rory McIlroy | 2955.70 |
| Shane Lowry | 1124.18 |
| Rasmus Højgaard | 1023.03 |
| Tyrrell Hatton | 990.55 |
| Sepp Straka | 942.73 |
| Justin Rose | 870.04 |
| Ludvig Åberg | 819.15 |
| Tommy Fleetwood | 814.33 |
| Thomas Detry | 650.29 |
| Niklas Nørgaard | 607.93 |
| Matt Wallace | 571.52 |
| Laurie Canter | 520.62 |
And it is not just automatic qualification in play: the Majors see the best take on the best in a cauldron of intensity that can come to define careers, just like the Ryder Cup. Perform on this stage and you could just catch the captain's eye.
Will events in North Carolina this week, Pennsylvania next month and Northern Ireland in July decide the Ryder Cup team? No. But they will go a long way towards shaping it.
The road to Bethpage has some major twists and turns to take yet.
