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. Finished tied sixth in the Portugal Masters last October and added a top 15 at the BMW Masters in Shanghai before a second place finish early in 2016 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
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Kaymer, 31, has not lifted a trophy since claiming his second major title at the 2014 US Open, but delivered six top-10 finishes in his last 12 events. Pieters, a 24-year-old from Belgium, played his way onto the team – in lieu of England’s Luke Donald, who had been rumored as one of the wild card choices – by winning the European Tour’s Made in Denmark title on Sunday.
Clarke said his call to Knox, the world No20, was “really, really hard to make”, with the Scot seeking to make a rookie appearance of his own. “I thought he might have played”, he said. Describing that as one of the most impressive rounds he’d ever seen, Clarke’s final decision was clearly influenced by Pieters’ audition of sorts in Denmark.
“In Lee and Martin, I have two former No. 1s in the world, and they bring a wealth of experience to the team”. He is a great foursomes player, a wonderful guy to be around and his experience will be invaluable in what will be his 10th appearance.
“The first time I played the Ryder Cup, it was very overwhelming”, Kaymer told reporters.
Darren Clarke believes Thomas Pieters is a future world No1 with a talent comparable to Tiger Woods after confirming the Belgian will make his Ryder Cup debut for Europe at Hazeltine next month.
Love will make three of his four picks after the BMW Championship on September 11, then will complete the team on September 25 with a final pick after the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship. “It’s certainly motivated me for the next three weeks, that’s for sure”, he said.
With Koepka as the only Ryder Cup rookie in the automatic qualifiers, Love can afford to bring on fresh faces or he can stick with guys who’ve been there before, but he’s also giving the eight guys on the team a chance to suggest players that they may feel fit the team the best.
The former world number one, who was selected by Clarke, along with German Martin Kaymer and rookie Thomas Pieters on Tuesday, said he was “incredibly proud” to be involved again. I had a few different people in my mind.
“Then it came down to the choice between Russell Knox and Thomas Pieters”.
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“Having to phone Russell yesterday and give him the information is probably one of the toughest phone calls I’ve ever had to make, because Russell has played unbelievably well over the qualification period with winning WGC and then doing what he did in Travelers”.
