The 2018 European Junior Ryder Cup team featuring Stoke Park’s Conor Gough and Roehampton’s Annabell Fuller. Picture by ROMAIN MURAILLE / FFGOLF

THE selection process for The 2020 European Junior Ryder Cup team has been confirmed by Ryder Cup Europe and the European Golf Association (EGA).

Six boys and six girls captained by European Junior Ryder Cup captain Paul Lawrie will take on the USA at Milwaukee’s Blue Mound Golf & Country Club, in Wisconsin, in September.

They will be selected based on performances in international events in the coming season organised by The R&A and the EGA.

Boys and girls who are citizens of a European country as defined by IGF’s nationality policy, and are under 18 years of age on 1 January 2020, are eligible to participate in the 2020 Junior Ryder Cup – providing they are not enrolled to play college golf in the USA during 2020.

Three boys and three girls will earn their places on the team through a points-based Order of Merit system.

Using the World Amateur Golf Ranking, the Order of Merit will award points based on finishing position in those events.

The qualification process will end following the R&A Girls’ and Boys’ Amateur Championships on August 15 and 16, respectively.

The remaining six players will be selected by captain Lawrie, with performances specifically in international events, including the European Young Masters, and positions in the EGA European Amateur Golf Rankings expected to prove important in the final decision.

Selection in the Jacques Léglise and Junior Vagliano Trophies will also be taken into strong consideration, as will performances in previous editions of the Junior Ryder Cup.

“I’m excited for the qualification process to begin,” said Lawrie. “The prospect of seeing how Europe’s best young golfers perform over the course of the next 10 months or so is fascinating.

“I’m looking forward to getting to some of these events to watch as many as possible in action,” added the 1999 Open Champion winner, who is the last Scotsman to win a Major some 20 years on.

The Junior Ryder Cup, held biennially in the build-up to the Ryder Cup, sees the best male and female junior amateurs from Europe and the USA go head-to-head in a mixed event.

The 2020 Junior Ryder Cup will be played from September 21-22, with the Ryder Cup starting at Whistling Straits – also in Wisconsin – three days later.

Many of world golf’s biggest starts have in the past featured in the junior competition before excelling at the Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup.

Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy both succeeded in the event before ending up on the winning side at a Ryder Cup, while Suzanne Peterson and Carlota Ciganda both triumphed as amateurs before lifting the Solheim Cup.

The 2018 European team featured Stoke Park’s Conor Gough, who is eligible again, having been crowned English Amateur Champion at just 16, in August, Peterborough Milton’s England Boys cap Robin Williams and Roehampton’s Curtis Cup player Annabel Fuller.

Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hjøgaard were also in the team with Rasmus claiming his first European Tour win this weekend, while just 18 – proving how quickly youngsters can step up in the pro ranks having experienced the competition against the American’s best teenage talents.

Lawrie, who has played in two Ryder Cups and was a vice-captain to Darren Clarke in the heavy defeat at Hazeltine in 2016, was announced as Europe’s Junior Ryder Cup captain last week.

WRIE APPOINTED JUNIOR RYDER CUP CAPTAIN

The qualiying events for the boys are:–

The qualifying events for the girls are:–

•To find out more about the Junior Ryder Cup click here.

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Scotland’s Paul Lawrie will captain the European team at the 2020 Junior Ryder Cup at Blue Mound Golf & Country Club, in Wisconsin four days before the Ryder Cup starts. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

PAUL Lawrie, the 1999 Open Champion and two-time Ryder Cup player, will captain Europe at the 2020 Junior Ryder Cup, which will take place at Wisconsin’s Blue Mound Golf and Country Club in Milwaukee.

The Scotsman, an eight-time European Tour winner, represented Europe at the 1999 Ryder Cup and will now lead Europe’s best juniors against their American counterparts in September.

Lawrie was also a member of the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ team, which staged a monumental comeback on the final day in 2012 to retain the Ryder Cup winning 14½-13½ on American soil.

The 50-year-old’s involvement in junior golf started in 2001 with the launch of the Paul Lawrie Foundation.

It provides opportunities for juniors to start playing golf. Its main goal is to encourage as many young people to play golf as possible.

The Junior Ryder Cup, held in the days before the Ryder Cup, sees the best male and female junior amateurs from Europe and the USA go head-to-head in a mixed event.

The biennial contest has seen many stars from world golf feature in the junior competition before excelling at the Ryder Cup and the Solheim Cup.

Sergio Garcia and Rory McIlroy both succeeded in the event before also winning the Ryder Cup, while Suzanne Peterson and Carlota Ciganda triumphed as amateurs before lifting the Solheim Cup.

“As soon as the call came in, I didn’t need long to think about taking on the role,” said Lawrie.

“To be able to lead a team of the best juniors in Europe against America will be a completely novel experience for me. In terms of how I see the game growing, it’s an important role.

“It’s going to be full-on over the next 10 months. I’m really looking forward to getting to some events during the year and watching the kids play.

“I’m absolutely delighted that I have been asked to captain the Junior Ryder Cup team.

“My wife, Marian, and I started the foundation to get as many kids into the game as we possibly could.

“I bring a huge enthusiasm for junior golf to the role. It’s where the game needs to be – sadly that still gets lost on some members at golf clubs not treating juniors how they deserve to be treated.

“Today’s juniors are tomorrow’s adults, and that’s an important message,” added Lawrie, who was one of Darren Clarke’s vice-captains at the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.

Paul Lawrie who helped Europe come back from 10-6 down in the Sunday singles at the 2012 Ryder Cup in the Miracle of Medinah. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

Lawrie earned three-and-a-half points for the European cause in the infamous “Battle of Brookline,” with two-and-a-half points coming from his partnership with Colin Montgomerie.

He also defeated Jeff Maggert in the Sunday singles as America – captained by Ben Crenshaw – staged remarkable final day comeback.

The event was marred by the US players and supporters in the gallery inside the ropes surging on to the 17th green after Justin Leonard holed a long range putt before Jose Maria Olazabal had finished the hole.

The incident in Massachusetts combined with a hostile crowd that targeted the European team – and Colin Montgomerie in particular on Sunday – sparked further controversies when European captain Mark James published his account in Into the Bearpit.

Lawrie then earned his place in The 2012 Ryder Cup side at Medinah, winning Europe’s second point on Sunday, defeating Brandt Snedeker 5&3, as he and his teammates battled back from a 10-6 deficit to win the biennial contest 14½-13½.

Both the European and United States Junior Ryder Cup teams will feature six boys and six girls, who must not have turned 18 before January 1, 2020 – and must not be enrolled to play college golf in the USA during that year.

American stars to have featured in the Junior Ryder Cup include Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Tony Finau, Lexi Thompson and Brittany Altomare.

In 2018, at Golf Disneyland Paris, Europe narrowly missed out on a first victory since 2006, as Team USA triumphed 12½-11½.

The hosts included Danish twins Nicolai and Rasmus Hojgard, who are already playing on the Challenge and European Tours repsectively in 2020, and Stoke Park’s Conor Gough, who was crowned English Amateur Champion in August, at the age of just 16.

Surrey’s Annabel Fuller was also on the 2018 team, while Wentworth’s Annabel Dimmock, played in 2014 – and claimed her first Ladies European Tour victory this summer.

The selection process for the 2020 European Junior Ryder Cup team, including confirmation of qualifying events from The R&A and European Golf Association’s schedule for next year, will be announced shortly.

The match takes place at Blue Mound G&CC, from September 21-22, while the 2020 Ryder Cup takes place four days later at Whistling Straits some 70 miles away, from September 25-27.

•For more information about the 2020 Ryder Cup click here.

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