Betting has been suspended on former world No.1 Luke Donald joining Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood as wildcard picks for next month’s Ryder Cup.
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Many thought that Clarke would use one of his picks on Scotsman Russell Knox, who’s now ranked 20th in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Clarke, with five debutants on his team already as automatic qualifiers, did draw on some further experience as he revealed his three wildcards to take on Davis Love III’s United States of America outfit, naming Lee Westwood for his tenth Ryder Cup appearance and two-time major champion Martin Kaymer.
Kaymer, a two-time major champion and former number one player in the world, hasn’t won in over two years and is now ranked thirty spots below Knox in the OWGR, but his play in the 2012 Ryder Cup, dubbed the “Miracle at Medinah” in which the Europeans overcame a huge deficit on the final day to win, likely played a part in Clarke’s decision.
Westwood has not won a tournament since April 2015, but he came joint-second behind compatriot Danny Willett – one of Clarke’s automatic picks – at this year’s Masters.
Knox could still have caught the final European automatic qualifier, Matt Fitzpatrick, with a strong showing in The Wyndham Championship a couple of weeks ago but the Scot chose to miss that event in the aftermath of his second PGA Tour win of the campaign at The Travelers Championship.
Pieters, 24, followed his fourth place at the Olympics by winning the Made in Denmark title on Sunday – having failed to defend his Czech Masters title by just one shot in between those events.
Clarke described breaking the news to Knox on Monday as the hardest phone call he’s ever had to make.
Hazeltine National, in Minnesota, will host the Ryder Cup for the first time.
“Kaymer brings experience, a two time major champion, and a player I admire and respect hugely”.
Russell Knox has said watching the Ryder Cup will be a bittersweet experience after the Scot was overlooked by Europe captain Darren Clarke despite being the highest-ranked player outside of the nine automatic qualifying spots.
“To win that tournament in the manner that he did [with birdies on the last three holes] impressed me and I found it impossible to leave him off the team”. “It’s certainly motivated me for the next three weeks, that’s for sure”, he said.
It was only on sealing his long-term future with a World Golf Championship victory in China last November that he took up European Tour membership, and became eligible for the Ryder Cup. In addition to Donald, the list is expected to include Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood. 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.
Then it was down to Thomas and Russell Knox.
“You have the right to pick whoever you want”, he said.
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“The U.S. side is going to be very strong but we are equally as strong”.
