Darren Clarke finalized the European Ryder Cup team by naming veterans Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer to the biennial matches, as well as U.S. first-timer Thomas Pieters.
Ryder Cup rosters: Team Europe finalized with Darren Clarke captain’s picks
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The three captain’s picks join the nine players who automatically qualified for the squad, which is comprised of six old hands and six Ryder Cup rookies. 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.
Europe will be attempting to retain the cup at the September 30-October 2 matches at Hazeltine in Minnesota.
“Last week I played with Thomas Pieters, and Thomas knew why I was playing with him and played unbelievable and shot 62 and, on top of that, won the tournament,” Clarke said in a Tuesday news conference devoid of the pomp and circumstance that typically surrounds the U.S. captain’s picks.
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“I got the phone call and I was just over the moon,” Pieters said, who has had making the Ryder Cup on his “bucket list” since he was a freshman at the University of Illinois.
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. It was his second PGA Tour victory of the 2016 season, but at No. 10 on the World Points list, he was one slot shy of automatically qualifying.
“This is a team that I’m massively proud of,” Clarke said. “They’re all extremely excited. They cannot wait to get on that plane to go to Hazeltine and do all of Europe proud.”
Here’s the final European Ryder Cup roster (* denotes Ryder Cup rookie)
Auto points qualifiers
1. Rory McIlroy
2. Danny Willett*
3. Henrik Stenson
4. Chris Wood*
5. Sergio Garcia
6. Justin Rose
7. Rafael Cabrera-Bello*
8. Andy Sullivan*
9. Matt Fitzpatrick*
CAPTAIN’S PICKS
10. Lee Westwood
11. Martin Kaymer
12. Thomas Pieters*
