“I hope the decision not to play Wyndham had nothing to do with it, maybe it did, but I’m sure no one will ever talk about that”, Knox added.
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He felt he deserved to be part of the European team and Russell Knox concedes it will be hard to watch the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.
Pieters’ name will have popped up more than anyone else.
Pieters was boosted primarily by his form in recent weeks.
The 12-strong team has been rounded out with the inclusion of Clarke’s three wildcards.
England’s Westwood, 43, Kaymer of Germany, 31, and Pieters will join automatic picks Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Danny Willett, Sergio Garcia and rookies Rafa Cabrera Bello, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Andy Sullivan and Chris Wood on Clarke’s team. “He will be a star”.
He had sleepless nights over his final selection.
Knox added: “Thomas has played some incredible stuff over the last three weeks”.
Pieters’s victory in Denmark followed a fourth-place finish at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and a runner-up showing at the Czech Masters.
“Having to phone Russell yesterday and give him the information was probably one of the toughest phone calls I’ve ever had to make”.
Already on the European team as automatic qualifiers are four-time major champion and former world number one Rory McIlroy, current world number four and Open Championship victor Henrik Stenson, Masters champion Danny Willett, Olympic gold medalist and former U.S. Open champ Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Chris Wood, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Andy Sullivan and Matthew Fitzpatrick. “It’s not just about the playing; it’s about the team room and the dynamics and everything that’s involved”.
“Because all our rookies are playing frequently in America now, it’s not quite what it used to be”, Clarke said.
The Europeans may be young and may look like underdogs going into this year’s Ryder Cup, but that’s happened to them before and they continue to dominate this event.
In the end, it was a straight shootout between Knox and Pieters.
Martin Kaymer won the 2010 U.S. PGA Championship and 2014 U.S. Open and has featured in the last three Ryder Cups.
If he had been, Knox would be an automatic qualifier.
“Maybe it did hurt me but my agent got in touch with someone at the European Tour and they ran some statistical analysis of what I needed compared to other people”. At 20th in the world – there are only five European players higher than him on the global order – and with two wins on the PGA Tour this season, Knox had staked a sturdy claim.
“I was going to look toward experience”, Clarke said. “It’s a team that’s going to go there and do everything we possibly can to bring that trophy back home again”. “If I hadn’t hit it in the water three times at the 17th at the Players I might have won there and then I’d definitely be on the team”.
It was Pieters who was a bit of a wild card. “He has the talent to go all the way to the top in the world in my belief”.
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Appearing via video link, Pieters said: “It’s a little bit insane, especially closing out the tournament like I did on Sunday”.
