Darren Clarke will have six rookies on his European side to defend the Ryder Cup on American soil next month after naming Belgium’s Thomas Pieters as one of his three captain’s picks on Tuesday, writes Simon Lewis.
Clarke, with five debutants on his team already as automatic qualifiers, did draw on some further experience as he revealed his three wildcards to take on Davis Love III’s USA outfit, naming Lee Westwood for his tenth Ryder Cup appearance and two-time major champion Martin Kaymer.
Thomas Pieters will make his Ryder Cup debut in Hazeltinehttps://t.co/FKT8nE8Zfj pic.twitter.com/nY7JcyKOrX
— Ryder Cup Team EUR (@RyderCupEurope) August 30, 2016
Yet he ignored the proven Ryder Cup records of candidates such as Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald in favour of current form and no-one fitted the bill better than Pieters, the 24-year-old who won last weekend’s Made In Denmark tournament on the European Tour and just pipped Scotland’s Russell Knox to the twelfth and final place on Clarke’s team.
No place for Shane Lowry or Graeme McDowell at the #RyderCup2016 as Darren Clarke chooses Westwood, Kaymer and Pieters as his wild cards
— BreakingNews.ie (@breakingnewsie) August 30, 2016
There was also disappointment for Ireland’s Shane Lowry who had staked his claim earlier in the season with a runner-up finish at the US Open in June but whose form has deserted him since. A second-round 65 in Denmark last week gave hope but he finished the tournament in a tie for 24th.
“Narrowing it down to those three wildcards has been a very difficult process, but I said that I was going to look to experience and with Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer I had two former world number ones,” Clarke explained during his captain’s press conference at Wentworth.
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
“The last pick was very difficult. Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald had an argument with their experience to join that, but they would admit that they have not been on top of their game.
“It came down to Thomas Pieters and Russell Knox and the phone call to Russell was one of the hardest I have ever had to make.
“But, given his form, I found it impossible to leave Thomas out.”
Clarke had sought world number 41 Pieters out as a playing partner in Denmark and witnessed at first hand the Belgian’s opening-round 62 that laid the foundations for his one-shot victory over Bradley Dredge of Wales. It was evidence Clarke needed to make him only the second Belgian on a Ryder Cup team after Nicolas Colsaerts debuted at Medinah in 2012.
“Last week I played with Thomas Pieters and Thomas knew why I was playing with him and played unbelievable and shot 62 and, on top of that, won the tournament,” Clarke added before addressing the challenge of defeating the USA for the fourth time in a row when the Ryder Cup matches resume in Minnesota on September 30.
“It’s going to be a very, very big task ahead of us. Those guys – the top nine – have earned their place as of right,” he said.
“The talent that they all possess, I have no worries at all about the strength of that team. I’ll be very proud to take them.”
England’s Westwood, 43, Kaymer of Germany, 31, and Pieters will join automatic picks Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Danny Willett, Sergio Garcia and rookies Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Andy Sullivan and Chris Wood on Clarke’s team.
The American eight automatic qualifiers are Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker, Brooks Koepka, Brandt Snedeker, Zach Johnson and Patrick Reed, winner of last Sunday’s Barclays tournament on the PGA Tour.
Captain Love III will add three of his four wild card picks on September 11 before adding his final team member on September 25, five days before the event gets under way at Hazeltine. Among those who just missed out on making the team by right were Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler.
