Aberg, Rose, Lowry Lead Europe Ryder Cup Wildcard Choices; CJ Group to Sponsor Byron Nelson Tourney Next Year

Europe Ryder Cup Wildcard Choices – A rising Swedish parbuster was one of the wildcard picks for Team Europe in the 2023 edition of the Ryder Cup in Rome, Italy. European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald chose 23-year-old Swedish talent Ludvig Aberg and veterans Justin Rose, Shane Lowry, Tommy Fleetwood, Sepp Straka and Nicolai Hojgaard as the team’s six wildcards that will play against the United States at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club from September 29 to October 1.

The six wildcard picks will join automatic qualifiers Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre for Team Europe, who seek to regain the Ryder Cup from Team USA. The Americans defeated the Europeans, 19-9, in the previous staging of the tournament at Whistling Straits in 2021. The European skipper will lead a star-studded lineup that featured three of the top four ranked players in the world in McIlroy, Rahm and Hovland. Expectations are high for the team in the golf betting world to win this year’s edition as it will be played in Italy and the golfers that Donald chose are in top form.

Donald Defends Selection of ‘Generational Talent’ Aberg

Donald was questioned about the selection of a young and inexperienced golfer in the prestigious team event. He answered the critics by saying that Aberg, who only turned professional in June, deserves to be chosen due to his recent exploits in the European Tour. He even described the Swedish parbuster as a “generational talent.” The former World No1 amateur shot a final-round 64 to emerge victorious in a tournament held at Crans-sur-Sierre in Switzerland. Donald sees Aberg as a mainstay for Team Europe in future Ryder Cups. The team captain describes his team as deep, saying that they formed a strong blend of players with previous Ryder Cup experience combined with exciting and talented rookies. 

Aside from Aberg, Rose and Lowry were chosen as Donald’s wildcards due to their vast experience in the greens. Rose will play for the Ryder Cup for the first time since 2018 while former British Open champion Lowry won the 2022 BMW PGA Championship, the first Ryder Cup qualifying event. The selection of Lowry drew criticism from golf pundits, who said that the Irishman was “out of form” and should have chosen Italian Cup champion Adrian Meronk. Lowry said that he is confident of his ability and is capable of helping Team Europe win the Ryder Cup. The Europeans are the underdogs in the team event despite winning every Europe staging of the Ryder Cup since 1993. Team USA will be led by LIV star Brooks Koepka and World No1 Scottie Scheffler.

Europe Ryder Cup Wildcard Choices: CJ Group to Sponsor Byron Nelson Tourney

CJ Group of South Korea will sponsor its fifth consecutive US Professional Golfers Association event in a different city. The PGA Tour announced recently that it has signed a long-term deal with the global lifestyle firm to be the title sponsor of the Byron Nelson event in Texas. The CJ Cup Byron Nelson is scheduled on May 2-5 at the TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas. It will be third PGA Tour “swing” event that will provide five spots into a USD20-million signature event the following week at Quail Hollow. 

Due to the development, the Zozo Championship, which is slated in October in Japan, will be the only event belonging to the Asian swing as the HSBC Champions in China was scrapped while the CJ Cup changed locations since 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Before the announcement, the CJ Cup was held in Shadow Creek in Las Vegas in 2020; The Summit in Las Vegas in 2021 and Congaree in South Carolina a year later. Two-time winner Rory McIlroy is the defending champion of the CJ Cup while Australian Jason Day is the reigning champ for Byron Nelson. 

Since 1968, the Dallas-based Salesmanship Club has been the lead organizers of the Byron Nelson. It has also given back to charity and was able to donate over USD185 million. All proceeds of the tournament will benefit the Momentous Institute that provides mental health services, education and professional training to children and families. 

The change of location will benefit US and European sports oddsmakers who want to focus on big tournaments in the US and European scene and earn money while watching the event at almost a similar timezone. The permanent staging of the tournament will also help US PGA Tour members who want to shine in the circuit and earn possible qualification points for the FedEx Cup.