Lee Westwood believes Europe’s six Ryder Cup rookies will be ready for anything when they attempt to secure an unprecedented fourth straight victory at Hazeltine next month. He’s potentially a world No 1 player.
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Pieters said: “The last couple of days have been a little bit insane, especially closing out the tournament like I did on Sunday, I was just really proud of myself winning another tournament – you try to win tournaments every week and to do it at that point, with a little bit of pressure on me, was very satisfying”.
“Now is the time to start to prepare and I’m really excited”.
Clarke revealed that Graeme McDowell, Luke Donald and Russell Knox came close to making the team, with the latter’s recent form rivalling that of Pieters to give the captain a selection headache. He’s played well this year, he was runner-up at Augusta and week in, week out he has been very solid.
Not making the team, and probably the biggest snub, was Scotland’s Russell Knox, who bolstered his chances for making his first Ryder appearance by winning the Travelers Championship earlier this month.
Knox said Clarke and Ian Poulter called and urged him to play the Wyndham Championship, his last chance to earn world points. Fitzpatrick played the Czech Masters that week and finished fifth, meaning Knox would have needed to finish fourth at the PGA Tour event to move past him. A full-time PGA Tour member, he broke through for two victories this season, but his WGC-HSBC Champions title last fall didn’t count toward the Ryder Cup points list; otherwise he would have automatically qualified.
“It’s going to be hard for me to watch it but I probably will – and I’ll be rooting for the team, of course”.
“If I hadn’t hit it in the water three times at The Players in May I might have won that tournament and then I’d definitely be on the team”. He has risen to 20th in the OWGR and finds himself in great form after winning a couple weeks ago.
Until today’s 12:30pm press conference, we won’t know for certain, of course, but if it is bad news for Knox, then let’s hope it doesn’t dent his confidence or change the way he is. I gather that several players also called the captain to share their plaudits for the 24-year-old.
Pieters grinned: “I spoke to Niocolas, and he said I’d be fine, as long as I made as many birdies as he did at Mednah!”
“The talent that they all possess, I have no worries at all about the strength of that team”. Obviously the crowd will be on their side but we’ve come up against that before.
“We’ve watched more golf and more stats, and how all the possible contenders were playing, and to see those first nine up there on the board makes me pleased and proud”.
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“I played with Tiger Woods when he was an amateur in The Open at Lytham and I saw a lot of Rory McIlroy when he was a kid, and Thomas has impressed me the same way as those guys”. But I’m sure I’ll be up for the task.
