One day after US Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk announced three of his four captain’s picks — all of which were chalk selections that surprised no one — European captain Thomas Bjorn was faced with much more complicated decisions.
Bjorn on Wednesday announced Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson as his four at-large picks, but there were a number of ways he could have gone, and he left himself very open for criticism.
If Europe fails to win on home soil for the first time in 25 years when the two sides compete for the cherished cup Sept. 28-30 at Le Golf National outside of Paris, Bjorn surely will be subject to second-guessing for his captain’s picks.
In Garcia, Poulter and Stenson, Bjorn clearly went with experience over current form. Five of his eight players who automatically qualified for the team are Ryder Cup rookies, which had a massive influence on his decisions.
“All four bring loads of experience and loads of points won and are great for the team room,” Bjorn said.
Bjorn’s four picks have played in a combined 20 Ryder Cups and delivered a combined 48½ Ryder Cup among them in their respective careers.
Bjorn’s final picks join the eight who qualified on points — reigning British Open champion Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and Thorbjorn Olesen.
“It’s not been the easiest [of decisions], but it’s a privileged situation for me to be in having that many to choose from,” Bjorn said. “There were a couple of disappointed people on the phone, but it’s about the four that made it [on picks] and the eight that made it on merit.”
Among those disappointed players left off the team were Thomas Pieters, who went 4-0-1 as a rookie in 2016 and has been in good form this year; Rafa Cabrera-Bello, who went 2-0-1 in 2016 and also was in better form than the veterans chosen; Matt Wallace, who’s won three times on the European Tour this season, including last week in Denmark, Bjorn’s home country; and Russell Knox, who won the Irish Open in July.
Much the way Furyk went with the chalk picks in Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, Bjorn went with experience in an effort to counter the depth of the U.S. side.
It always was going to be difficult imagining the Europeans playing a Ryder Cup without Poulter and Garcia.
The 38-year-old Sergio Garcia has not done much since winning the 2017 Masters, but like Poulter he’s been a stalwart in the eight Ryder Cups he’s played in, having produced 22½ career points with a 19-11-7 record. He has, however, missed the cut in all four majors this year and failed to qualify for the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time.
“He’s the heartbeat of the team,” Bjorn said of Garcia. “It’s like a football team going without their captain. He makes everybody around him better. He is everything that the European Ryder Cup is all about.”
Garcia called the recent weeks waiting for Bjorn’s picks “a little tense, because I love the Ryder Cup and wanted to be a part of it.’’
“I obviously wanted to make it by myself [and] unfortunately it hasn’t been the year I was hoping for,” Garcia said. “I’m just really glad that Thomas had confidence in me. He knows what I can bring to the team. That’s the important thing. It’s been a rough year, but I’m excited about what’s coming.”
The 42-year-old Poulter has lost only four of his 18 career matches on five Ryder Cups (12-4-2) and is undefeated in singles (4-0-1). Poulter, who was not on the 2016 team that lost to the U.S. at Hazeltine, has never played on a losing Ryder Cup side since making his debut in 2004.
“He’s a man for the occasion on the big stage,” Bjorn said of Poulter. “He really is a special person that week. He and Sergio are like footballers, because they love the team sport so much.’’
Poulter, because he wasn’t in form in 2016, served as a vice captain at Hazeltine.
“To be vice captain was a great experience, but to get the call and to know I’m playing is on a completely different level,” Poulter said. “I just want to get there. We’ve got three weeks to go and I want it to be next week.”
Casey, who’s played on three Ryder Cup teams but none since 2008, is 3-2-4 in his nine matches and has a win at this year’s Valspar Championship. Casey, who was not eligible to play in 2016 because he was not a member of the European Tour, was overlooked as a wild card in 2010 despite being ranked No. 7 in the world at the time.
“He’s world class,” Bjorn said of Casey. “He brings world-class golf to the team and is a wonderful match-play player. In the Ryder Cup, he’s won and he has the pedigree to be on this team.’’
Casey, who said he “wrote” down the Ryder Cup as a goal before this year, added, “Now the real challenge comes to us in a few weeks time in Paris.”
The 42-year-old Stenson has played in four Ryder Cups and holed the winning putt on his debut at The K Club in 2006. His form has been solid this year with top-six finishes at both the Masters and US Open in 2018. Stenson has a 7-7-2 career record.
“I feel like the stature he brings and the calmness he brings to the team room, looking after the young players, makes him just a very good guy to have around,” Bjorn said of Stenson. “Something all four [picks] bring is they are easy to partner up with other players.”