Clarke selected Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Thomas Pieters to complete his team to defend the trophy at Hazeltine next month, with world No 20 Knox missing out despite being ranked higher than all three.
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With rookies taking up five of the nine automatic qualifying places, Clarke had been expected to turn to experienced Ryder Cup campaigners Westwood and Kaymer.
Westwood will make his 10th consecutive appearance in next month’s contest at Hazeltine, while Kaymer earns his fourth straight cap as Clarke opted to add much-needed experience to his line-up.
The 43-year-old’s last victory came in Indonesia in April 2015, but he was joint-second behind Willett at Augusta National and has recorded four other top-15 finishes from a limited schedule.
When naming Pieters above him at Wentworth, Clarke revealed that he had asked Knox to play the Wyndham Championship two weeks ago, the last qualifying event in the European race to be held in America, but that he refused.
Thomas has won three tour events in the past year, the latest of those coming at the Made in Denmark tournament over the weekend.
Russell Knox admits he is desperate to win the FedEx Cup to prove he should have been given a Ryder Cup wild card ahead of a player rated in the same league as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
“It’s certainly motivated me for the next three weeks, that’s for sure and have to use this as a springboard to try to win the FedEx Cup”, insisted Knox. Clarke and European Ryder Cup fans will be hoping that Westwood will be more fired up come Ryder Cup time, and that his recent form does not predict how he will play.
“I was pretty relaxed coming down the stretch, but around the middle I was having flashbacks to last week when the putts weren’t dropping, so I guess I just had to hit them close”.
“Martin Kaymer is somewhat of a Ryder Cup stalwart and another man I have enormous trust in”.
Clarke is scheduled to announce his three picks on Tuesday for Europe’s contest with the United States at Hazeltine from September 30 to October 2. “He played unbelievable, shot 62 and, on top of that, won the tournament”. “In Lee and Martin, I have two former No. 1s in the world, and they bring a wealth of experience to the team”.
Thomas Pieters birdied the last three holes to claim a one-shot victory in the Made in Denmark event in Farso on Sunday. When we teed off on Thursday morning, Thomas knew exactly why I was playing with him. “They can not wait to get on that plane to go to Hazeltine and do all of Europe proud”.
Clarke described breaking the news to Knox on Monday as the hardest phone call he’s ever had to make.
Darren played alongside him for the first two rounds and I know he was hugely impressed, telling us that Pieters was awesome and would go on to be world No1, no question.
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That means there will be no “fear factor” in facing such players at Hazeltine, but the three-time European Tour victor added: “It’s going to be a matter of dealing with the crowds I think”.
