As our series of profiles is rounded off with Darren Clarke’s three wildcard selections for The 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine, we take a closer look at three-time European Tour victor and Belgian rookie, Thomas Pieters.
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Smyth did not agree with those sentiments, although he had sympathy for Knox, who finished 10th in World points, just one place behind Matthew Fitzpatrick, the last automatic qualifier from that list.
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 U.S. outfit, naming Lee Westwood for his tenth Ryder Cup appearance and two-time major champion Martin Kaymer. The 43-year-old’s last victory came in Indonesia in April 2015 but he was joint second behind Willett at Augusta and has recorded four other top-15 finishes from a limited schedule.
But while the Inverness-born 31-year-old respected the captain’s judgement, he vowed to bounce back with a defiant display at the forthcoming FedEx Cup to show Clarke that he’s made a mistake.
Thomas Pieters improved his chances of earning a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup by winning the Made in Denmark tournament on Sunday to claim his third European title. 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.
Dredge held a one-shot advantage at the end of his third round, but the Welshman paid the price for a double-bogey at the second and needed a long birdie putt at the last to take second place on his own.
Westwood acknowledged his joy in making the team, but added that as a close friend of Clarke’s he really wanted to work his way into the team automatically rather than rely on a wildcard selection. Graeme McDowell and Luke Donald had an argument with their experience to join that, but they would admit that they have not been on top of their game.
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.
European Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke smiles during a press conference at Wentworth Golf Club, Virginia Waters, England Tuesday Aug. 30, 2016.
Pieters is a big-hitting Belgian who played college golf at IL and won the NCAA individual title in 2012 at Riviera.
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. “One of the finest 62s I’ve ever witnessed”, Clarke said. We set our schedules and this is an insanely busy month for me with the FedExCup play-offs, which were just as much of a goal as the Ryder Cup at the start of the year.
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“It’s hard to be a rookie on home soil when you have the crowd cheering for you, but to be a rookie in the States and be up against it, the crowd as well as the team, it’s a little extra”. The US side is going to be very strong, but I think we’re equally as strong.
