European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke has selected Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Thomas Pieters as his three wild cards for next month’s defence of the trophy at Hazeltine.
And that means there is no place in the team for Scotland’s world number 20 Russell Knox, who finished 10th in qualifying, just 0.04 points ahead of Pieters.
With rookies filling five of the nine automatic qualifying places – albeit one of them being Masters champion Danny Willett – Clarke had made no secret of the fact that he wanted to “balance the team” with experienced players.
Westwood and Kaymer had long been favourites to be selected and finished 13th and 14th on the world points list respectively, with Westwood securing a 10th consecutive appearance in the event.
The 43-year-old’s last victory came in Indonesia in April 2015, but he was joint second behind Willett at Augusta National and has recorded four other top-15 finishes from a limited schedule.
One of the best phone calls I got recently 😉🏆🏆🏆🏆 fourth time! Go Europe! 🇪🇺#RyderCup #europeantour @RyderCupEurope pic.twitter.com/4bMXmTd444
— Martin Kaymer (@MKaymer59) August 30, 2016
Kaymer’s most recent win came when he claimed his second major title in the 2014 US Open, but six top-10s in his last 12 events – including sixth in the final event in Denmark – is coupled with
experience of Europe’s last three Ryder Cup wins, including securing the point which retained the trophy at Medinah.
Knox would have qualified if he had been a European Tour member when he won the WGC-HSBC Champions last November and boosted his case by adding the Travelers Championship earlier this month.
The final twelve. #TeamEurope pic.twitter.com/Iu0vMk9Pe7
— Ryder Cup Team EUR (@RyderCupEurope) August 30, 2016
But Pieters’ recent form proved irresistible after he finished fourth in the Olympics and second in the defence of his Czech Masters title the following week, before winning in Denmark on Sunday. The 24-year-old had carded opening rounds of 62 and 71 while playing alongside Clarke.
After confirming his picks at a press conference at Wentworth, Clarke reserved much of his praise for Pieters, saying: “Last week I played with him as I have many times over the qualification period.
“As we teed off on Thursday morning Thomas knew exactly why I was playing with him.
“Prior to that there was a few other contenders I was thinking about as well, but he went out and played unbelievably and shot 62 – one of the finest 62s I’ve ever witnessed – and he made it look easy. And then on top of that he finished in the manner he started in to win the tournament.
“I’m very pleased and proud to have someone of Thomas Pieters’ undoubted talent as part of that team.”
Referring to Westwood and Kaymer, Clarke added on Sky Sports News HQ: “In Lee Westwood I’ve got one of the most experienced ‘Ryder Cuppers’ of all time.
“This will be his 10th appearance. He’s played well this year, he was runner-up at Augusta and week in, week out he has been very solid.
“Martin Kaymer has had six top-10s in his recent events and is somewhat of a Ryder Cup stalwart. No one can forget the putt he holed at Medinah a few years ago.
“He’s a man I have a huge amount of trust and belief in.”
