Belgian Thomas Pieters, playing with European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke, continued his bid for a wildcard place for the matches that start at Hazeltine next month with a level-par 71 to stay well in contention.
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Clarke announced his choices at the European Tour headquarters at Wentworth on Tuesday.
Westwood and Kaymer, both former top-ranked players, were widely expected selections and provide experience to a European team that contained five Ryder Cup rookies among its automatic qualifiers.
Twice major victor Kaymer of Germany has featured in the last three Ryder Cups, all won by Europe.
That points towards the likes of Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer, who finished 13th and 14th on the world points list respectively, or perhaps even Francesco Molinari, Graeme McDowell or Luke Donald, who were 18th, 19th and 21st.
Masters champions Danny Willett, Chris Wood, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Andy Sullivan and Matt Fitzpatrick qualified automatically, along with four-time major victor Rory McIlroy, British Open champion Henrik Stenson, Olympic gold medalist Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.
“The Ryder Cup means so much to him and I think he’s just making sure he can play the rest of the FedEx and also make sure he’s fit for the Ryder Cup”. “But it’s going to be tough for him to make those picks and round out his team”.
“I’m very disappointed not to have made the team”, Knox said.
Westwood and Kaymer have always been touted as shoo-ins but Belgium’s long-hitting Pieters is the sixth rookie in this year’s time, joining fellow first-timers. PGA Tour this season, including at the Travelers Championship this month, and ranked No. 20 – the sixth highest position for a European.
Europe are defending the Ryder Cup after winning the previous edition as hosts at Gleneagles in 2014. “I have to respect the decision he made and get on with it”.
Clarke, however, said on Friday that the world number four was simply being careful by withdrawing from the tournament.
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“He has the talent to go all the way to the top of the world”, Clarke said of Pieters, a big-hitting Belgian who played college golf at IL and won the NCAA individual title in 2012 at Riviera. “I just can’t wait to get on that plane and be with the team the whole week”.
