Kaymer is the type of player who could be thrown into any situation and handle it, be that teaming up with a rookie, leading the way in singles or even watching on if asked to sit out matches.
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(AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili, File).
“I was going to look toward experience”, Clarke said. 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.
The automatic qualifiers were four-time major victor Rory McIlroy, Masters champion Danny Willett, British Open champion Henrik Stenson, Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose, Chris Wood, Sergio Garcia, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Andy Sullivan and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Knox’s focus on the PGA Tour – where he is ranked seventh in the FedEx Cup standings – may have cost him. “I thought he might have played”, he said.
“It was a tough call for him to make”. Overall, he has six top 10s this season, which is a disappointment to the two time major champion, but also shows that he remains consistent enough to contribute to the team.
Knox is now seventh in the FedEx Cup standings on the PGA Tour – Henrik Stenson is the next highest European at 21st – and therefore in contention to win the overall title and United States dollars 10million bonus at the Tour Championship, which finishes just five days before plays gets under way at Hazeltine.
“Then it came down to Russell Knox and Thomas Pieters and that has been an incredibly hard decision; I haven’t slept an terrible lot about it”.
And he also discussed the mindset when picking a Ryder Cup team.
Pieters got the nod on the back of this hot run: Fourth place at the Olympics, second place at the Czech Masters, and then a victory at the Made in Denmark tournament where he birdied the last three holes to win on Sunday.
Instead he gave the nod to in-form rookie Thomas Pieters, best friend Lee Westwood and two-time Major victor Martin Kaymer – all ranked more than 20 places further down the world rankings than 20th-placed Knox. “Anyone who’s been playing well, it’s been on there”, Clarke said.
“Every year there’s a guy in my position that doesn’t get picked and it’s a story right now but in a couple of weeks time when it all starts, I’m sure it’ll be forgotten that I’m not in the team”. “I’m proud of that team”.
“And now to finalise the team of 12 guys who are going to Hazeltine to try and bring this handsome trophy back home with us”.
Appearing via video link, Pieters said: “It’s a little bit insane, especially closing out the tournament like I did on Sunday”.
“Last week I played with him, as I’ve done many times over the qualification period”. “I had been playing well for a while but I guess the results were not there [before this weekend]”.
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Victor of the Made in Denmark tournament on Sunday, he added: “I can’t wait to get on that plane and be with the team”.
