Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy both reckon the Ryder Cup should count as a qualifying event towards European Tour membership.
Donald: In action at the Ryder Cup last week
The biennial event does count as one of the 15 events needed to qualify for the PGA Tour, and Donald sees no reason why the same should not apply in Europe.
Both McIlroy and Donald are based in the States, and struggle to fulfil the minimum requirement of 13 European Tour events in order to retain membership.
"It's one of the busiest weeks we play all year, hence we'd like to get the European Tour to count it as a counting event," Donald said. "We actually do quite a lot of work that week.
"We all know what a big revenue maker it is for the European Tour. It's a privilege to play Ryder Cup, but it's still a week's worth of sacrifice. I think at the very least it should count as an event.
"I don't see why it should on one tour and not the other. I'll raise the question. Hopefully they'll change it. We'll see. I definitely have the backing of some of the other guys that play out here."
Rory McIlroy is one of those players backing the Englishman.
"Luke made a pretty convincing case," he said.
"For guys playing a global schedule, the Ryder Cup should count toward one of those tournaments. Golf is the easy part in the Ryder Cup week. There's so much going on."
golf365.com