Harry Hall has been cutting an eye-catching presence as he threatens to force Luke Donald into a late rethink about his Ryder Cup wild cards. With that flat cap and manicured moustache, the dapper Cornishman and now Las Vegas resident will roll the dice one more time at this week’s FedEx Cup finale.
Nine European players have made it into the PGA Tour’s top 30 and so get to play in the Tour Championship at East Lake. Four of those — Rory McIlroy, Bob MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Rose — have already gained automatic Ryder Cup spots and the only one of the nine whose place at Bethpage is in any doubt is Hall. With the LIV Golf duo of Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton also assured of Bethpage berths, there are really only two places on the 12-man team up for debate.
Matt Fitzpatrick’s return to form this summer should be enough to snaffle one of those, although he has flown from the United States to play in this week’s Betfred British Masters at The Belfry, where Donald is also in the field. Hall is essentially in a battle for the final pick, but his fate is probably in the hands of Rasmus Hojgaard.
The 28-year-old poses with a pin flag in July after qualifying for the Open for the first time
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If the Dane finishes in a tie for 29th or better at the British Masters, Europe’s final Ryder Cup qualifying event, he will beat Shane Lowry to the sixth automatic spot. In that scenario, Lowry is guaranteed a pick and the knock-on effect makes it hard to see Hall getting the nod. No Ryder Cup points are available at the Tour Championship.
Should Hojgaard fail to make the automatic spots, he will be up against Hall and Marco Penge, the latter second in the Race to Dubai rankings, for the final pick that will be announced on September 1. Hojgaard’s twin brother, Nicolai, Aaron Rai and Matt Wallace all need huge weekends at The Belfry.
Hall, 28, is ranked 54 in the world, lower than Rai but above both Hojgaards, and Data Golf, an alternative rankings model, has him as high as No10, with Rahm, McIlroy and Fleetwood the only Europeans above him.
Given the PGA Tour stats also have him second only to Sam Burns in strokes-gained putting and joint top of the birdie charts with Scottie Scheffler, you might think he would be a perfect fit for a Ryder Cup team. However, at last week’s BMW Championship, where Hall finished sixth, he admitted he had not had any recent conversations with Donald. Nor had he been asked for his measurements for a possible Ryder Cup uniform. Yet he left nobody in any doubt about what it would mean to him. “It would be massive,” he said.
Two years ago the man from Camborne told me he would “definitely” be on this Ryder Cup team and team golf has long been his motivation. At the West Cornwall Golf Club where he grew up, the Walker Cup bag of his old idol, Phil Rowe, is on display. When Rowe moved from a coaching job at Stanford to the University of Nevada (UNLV), Hall followed him, explaining he lacked the academic chops to get to Stanford. He had never previously been to America.
Roots matter, though, and the flat cap is partly a tribute to that West Cornwall star of the Roaring Twenties, “Long” Jim Barnes, who won the Open, US Open and US PGA Championship. As for the tash: “Ever since I went bald at 23 I had to spice up my game a bit.”
His short game has always been his strength because, he says, West Cornwall did not have a driving range. Hence, he explained that he had to learn the game backwards, good at chipping and putting but “figuring out how to hit the ball”. With length a significant plus for Bethpage, that may ultimately go against him, but he now has the veteran coach Butch Harmon offering help remotely, while Sir Nick Faldo’s former caddie, Fanny Sunesson, has been massaging his mental approach. “We’ve been working together for the last four or five months,” he said. “I put a lot of my decision-making and getting more comfortable on the course down to her.”
Faldo, too, invited him to his Montana ranch to hit balls for a day and then ran the rule over his ball-striking on the Open range at Royal Portrush last month. Hall has recorded eight top-20 finishes in 11 events and another good week at the Tour Championship, where the winner will also land the FedEx Cup and $10million, may make him hard to ignore.
Donald and his team, including the data guru Edoardo Molinari, will not select their picks on form alone, with analysis of potential pairings and ability to assimilate into a team also considerations, but Hall has at least entered the conversation.
After his final round at the BMW Championship, McIlroy was asked about the strong Ryder Cup showing and said: “It’s good to see Bob, Ludvig [Aberg], Viktor [Hovland], Tommy, even Harry Hall, that have maybe got a chance to play in the team. It bodes well for a few weeks’ time.”
Hall finished tied for sixth at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas
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He then recalled playing with Hall in his first pro start at the Dunhill Links Championship in 2019. “Really nice player, great rhythm to his golf swing,” McIlroy said. “He went over to UNLV and did it that way, but he’s become a very consistent player, so we’ll see.”
You could certainly understand it if Rasmus Hojgaard were awash with nerves this week. In 2023 he started the year well fancied to make the Ryder Cup team and was included in the Hero Cup, which was in effect a trial for hopefuls. He pulled out injured and was replaced by Nicolai, who shone and ended up playing at the Ryder Cup.
Two years ago Rasmus went to Rome to support Nicolai and ended up as the golf cart driver for Thomas Bjorn, the vice-captain. This is a huge week for him, and for Hall, as they seek a more central role.
Harry Hall profileBorn Camborne, England (6 August 1997).Golf career
Attended the university of Nevada- Las Vegas from 2015-2019.
Turned professional in 2019 and played in the Korn Ferry tour from 2020-2022.
2021 won the Wichita Open.
2022 won the NV5 international.PGA Tour
Gained first PGA tour card for the 2022/23 season.
Played in 88 events making 60 cuts.
Won his first PGA Tour title in July 2024 at the ISCO Championship, shooting -22, winning via five-way play-off.Team Appearances
Represented Europe in the Arnold Palmer Cup in 2017 and 2018.
Represented Great Britain and Ireland in the Walker Cup in 2019.
Represented England in the European amateur team Championship in 2019.Master of short game
Averaged 27.46 putts per round- 1st on tour.
Averaged 1.525 putts per hole- 1st on tour.
One putt average of 45.8%- 2nd on tour.
89.94% conversion rate when putting inside 10 feet.
4.54 birdies averaged per round (409 birdies in 90 rounds)- 1st on tour.Europe’s Ryder Cup team (qualifying ends on Sunday)Qualified Rory McIlroy, Bob MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton.Sixth in the rankings (last automatic place) Shane LowryLocks (with present Ryder Cup ranking) Sepp Straka (7), Ludvig Aberg (9), Viktor Hovland (10), Jon Rahm (23).Almost certain Matt Fitzpatrick (12)The rest Rasmus Hojgaard (8) – can overhaul Lowry by tying for 29th or better this week, Matt Wallace (11), Thomas Detry (13), Marco Penge (14), Aaron Rai (15), Harry Hall (17).