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Thomas Bjorn yesterday announced his four wildcard picks to complete Team Europe. With opinions split on Bjorn's decisions, let’s take a look at who will be joining Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and Thorbjorn Olesen at Le Golf National.
Ian Poulter
Obvious. Easy. The man for the occasion. Need I say more?
Paul Casey
Casey grinds out solid but unspectacular results. He’s a conservative option. That puts the onus on a lot of young debutants to take the match by the scruff of the neck. He also doesn’t offer the character or attitude to bolster the team.
He’s a good golfer and he has a good Ryder Cup record, but you could say the same for Rafa Cabrera Bello and Thomas Pieters. The thing that separates them is flair; an aggressive approach that excites the fans and other players. Casey, for me, doesn’t offer that. It won't hurt the team, but I feel there were better options out there.
Sergio Garcia
I’m unsure. Plain and simple. It’s so easy to justify his inclusion, but it would’ve been equally as easy to justify his exclusion. There’s no way he’s “done”; he won THREE tournaments last year. Not just the Masters. It’s just a matter of finding his game when it matters. Bjorn described him as “the heartbeat of the team”. He is a huge presence.
Sergio will give those young guys a lot more confidence when lining up against the likes of Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson. No doubt. I am reluctant to criticise his selection, but Bjorn is putting himself in the firing line.
Henrik Stenson
His form hasn’t been spectacular, but for me Stenson is a no-brainer. He’s such a great golfer and reminds me a lot of Molinari in his ability to avoid mistakes when the pressure is on. He also has a lot of Ryder Cup experience in his favour. You won't find many objectors to this pick.
Missed the cut
I think the tournament just came too soon for Matthew Fitzpatrick and Eddie Pepperell. The same for Matt Wallace, who left himself too big a mountain to climb (three wins in 2018 would usually do the trick). We'll see where they are in two years.
However, I can’t help feeling like Rafa Cabrera Bello and Thomas Pieters were both unlucky to miss out. If Pieters had done better at Made in Denmark I think he’d have got a pick. Cabrera Bello, on the other hand, deserves to be Paris-bound after going T10-T11-T60-T7 in his last four events. Both players had outstanding debuts at Hazeltine last time out.
Written by Joe Carabini
