Knox is ranked 20th in the world, sits seventh on the FedEx Cup rankings and has won twice on the PGA Tour this season but that was not enough to sway Clarke’s mind.
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With five rookies qualifying automatically, albeit one of them being Masters champion Danny Willett, Clarke had made no secret of wanting to “balance the team” with experienced players.
Westwood and Kaymer had always 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.
“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 United States of America for the fourth time in a row when the Ryder Cup matches resume in Minnesota on September 30.
Pieters followed fourth in Rio with a runner-up finish at the Czech Masters, before winning the Made In Denmark after playing alongside Clarke for the first two rounds.
“Clarke added: “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”. I would have liked to have played my way on, but obviously I was very relieved and thrilled at the same time to get the pick. I am really glad for Thomas Pieters too – I played with him last week and was really impressed.
The Scot confirmed captain Darren Clarke asked him to play in the Wyndham Championship, which began 11 days after he won the Travelers Championship. “I am delighted to have him as part of the team”.
Clarke said it boiled down to a choice between Pieters and Russell Knox, a two-time victor on the U.S. PGA Tour this season, including at the Travelers Championship this month.
“It’s going to be hard for me to watch it when the time comes, but I probably will – and I’ll be rooting for the team of course”.
The 30-year-old from Inverness missed out on selection as a wildcard for Darren Clarke’s European team to take on the US at Hazeltine at the end of next month with the Northern Irishman opting instead to take Belgium’s Thomas Pieters in a straight choice between rookies.
“The last one was hard”.
“He’s very long off the tee and has a great short game so I think maybe the captain has the option of playing him in many different formats with many different players”. However, it appears that Clarke wanted a balanced team with youth and experience and this has proven to be the case.
But Pieters has never been close to a major – his best position was 30th at the 2016 British Open – and his selection represents a gamble for Clarke, who could have chosen either Luke Donald or Russell Knox, both of whom are more experienced in American conditions.
“You’ve got to say Thomas Pieters forced his way into the team”.
“It’s going to be a very, very big task ahead of us”.
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He won’t find watching Hazeltine easy, but he’ll still back the team.
