Pieters, the 24-year-old from Belgium, clinched a timely victory in the Made in Denmark event on Sunday, having played the first 36 holes alongside Clarke and scoring 62 in his opening round. Another source close to Clarke had also indicated that he was leaning toward Donald, who finished second at the Wyndham Championship two weeks ago and is a veteran of four Ryder Cups, all on the winning side.
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In contrast to Europe, all but one of the players to automatically make the US team have Ryder Cup experience.
Darren Clarke names his three captain’s picks on Thursday and Pieters sent another message to the European skipper at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort.
Pieters added in his press conference: “He (Clarke) has got plenty of good players to pick from, so if he doesn’t pick me, then so be it and I’ll work my butt off to get there in the next one”.
Kaymer has won on all three of his Ryder Cup appearances to date, holing the decisive putt to defeat Steve Stricker and secure a remarkable comeback for Europe in 2012 in what became dubbed the “Miracle of Medinah”, with United States led on that occasion by current captain Davis Love III.
In contrast to those two decisions seemingly being straightforward, the final one has given Clarke an even bigger headache than the infamous one he suffered – rightly so, in fairness – the morning after he was crowned as Open champion at Royal St George’s in 2011.
Clarke announced his choices at the European Tour headquarters at Wentworth on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old is a three-time victor on the European Tour, with all three of those wins coming since August 2015.
Others such as England’s Tyrrell Hatton, who just missed out on qualifying automatically, and Scotland’s Russell Knox, who won twice on the PGA Tour already this season, seem to be on the outside looking in despite enjoying fantastic breakout seasons.
Made in Denmark champion Thomas Pieters.
He is only 21st in the Ryder Cup world points list, however.
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Scottish golfer Russell Knox, who is ranked 20th in the latest world standings, has strong criteria in his favour, but Kaymer actually believes the in-form Thomas Pieters – fourth in the Olympics, runner-up in the Czech Masters and victor of the Made in Denmark – would fit the bill.
