Smith: "Ludicrous to suggest Matthew Fitzpatrick shouldn't be in Ryder Cup squad"

European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald picked the wrong Matt. 

Not my words, but those were the cries from plenty of armchair critics on social media after Donald completed his roster on Monday. 

Donald's choices weren't in the least bit surprising - there seemed absolutely no reason to overlook Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka, Viktor Hovland, Ludvig Aberg and Fitzpatrick. 

There were small question marks over Straka's inclusion given he skipped the BMW Championship for a 'personal matter' and finished dead last when he returned at the Tour Championship. 

And I'll admit there were legitimate concerns for Fitzpatrick when he sacked his caddie Billy Foster after a shocking start to the campaign. 

But there is absolutely no denying Donald has picked the strongest - and most settled - European team for the Bethpage showdown. 

Still, that hasn't prevented a few from piping up - particularly over Fitzpatrick's record in the Ryder Cup. 

"Marco Penge should have been in on form," one X user wrote. 

"Both him and Straka need to pull through," another added. "Could have easily been Harry Hall and Matt Wallace."

On paper, Fitzpatrick's record really is abysmal. Just the one point from the eight matches he has played since making his debut at Hazeltine in 2016. 

Fitzpatrick was a 22-year-old rookie that year and thrown in at the deep end with a below-par Henrik Stenson in the foursomes, ultimately being swept aside by Brooks Koepka and Brandt Snedeker 3&2. 

Zach Johnson also beat Fitzpatrick 4&3 in the Sunday singles, but by that point Europe's defeat had already been inflicted. 

Lee Westwood - who amassed 24 points for Europe during a glittering Ryder Cup career - did not prove to be a good foursomes partner in Wisconsin in 2021 and was well past his best. 

The pair were defeated 2&1 by Koepka and Daniel Berger in the first session and lost by the same margin to Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay. 

Fitzpatrick also lost a tight singles match to Berger. 

The 2023 Ryder Cup was a slightly different story for the 2022 U.S. Open champion. He teamed up with Rory McIlroy in the four-balls, inflicting a heavy 5&3 defeat on Collin Morikawa and Schauffele. 

It was actually Fitzpatrick, not McIlroy, that did the heavy lifting in that match. McIlroy could only laugh as Fitzy turned it on with a ridiculous eagle at the par-4 fifth hole having dropped a string of birdie putts on the holes prior. 

McIlroy and Fitzpatrick were also in total control of their match against Cantlay and Wyndham Clark, only for an inspired Cantlay to turn it on down the stretch. 

In the Sunday singles, Fitzpatrick ended up losing another tight match to arguably Team USA's best player at Marco Simone, with Max Homa grabbing his third point of the week. 

Ahead of the 2025 matches, Donald conceded Fitzpatrick did not get off to the best start this year. 

"But he's one that's turned it around impressively," Donald said, referencing Fitzpatrick's run at the Scottish Open, Open, British Masters and European Masters. 

"I think nobody has sort of statistically been as good as Matt has in the last three or four months."

He's not wrong. Data Golf ranks Fitzpatrick as currently the eighth best player in the world based on current form. On April 14, he was 97th.

"I challenged Matt to go play the last two events in Europe and getting into the last group on Sunday the last two weeks," Donald added. 

"I think just showed us everything that Matt has playing tremendous golf right now, six top 10s I think in his last eight starts and you know really really impressive to see how much his game has come along trying to make this team."

Donald told Fitzpatrick in an awkward phone call (when did we decide this is the content we want?!) that the 2025 Ryder Cup will be his time to shine. 

I hope it is. 

I don't think it's fair to simply dismiss Fitzpatrick given his record. 

He had terrible partners and circumstances on his first two appearances. Fine margins proved to be the difference in other losses.