Wallace surge leaves Bjorn facing wildcard Ryder dilemma
EUROPEAN Ryder Cup skipper Thomas Bjorn faces a wildcard dilemma after England’s Matt Wallace won a four-man play-off to clinch the Made in Denmark title and stake his claim for one of four captain’s picks.
After local hero Thorbjørn Olesen expressed relief at clinching the last of eight automatic spots, Wallace birdied five of his last six holes in a closing 67 to match fellow Englishmen Steven Brown, Jonathan Thomson and Lee Westwood on 19-under par.
Wallace (28) then birdied the parfour 18th twice in sudden-death to clinch his third win of the season, denying Brown on his second visit after Westwood and Thomson were eliminated with pars the first time around.
With Olesen one of five rookies qualifying automatically alongside Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Alex Noren and Jon Rahm, Bjorn hinted before the play-off that he still had at least one niggling doubt about his four wildcards.
“I am pretty set on two or three names, that’s for sure,” said Bjorn, who will sit down with his vice captains after the non-counting Dell Technologies Championship finishes in Boston today. “Then we have still got a bit of discussion to do and golf from America to watch over the next few days.
Doubt
“I am pretty much there in my head on how I see this team being and how I want to mix and match everyone. But there’s still one little doubt in my head.”
Experienced Ryder Cup players Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Rafa Cabrera Bello are the front-runners to earn wildcards but Wallace’s display leaves Bjorn with a host of names needing picks.
They include 2016 team members Matthew Fitzpatrick, Thomas Pieters, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia, as well as Irish Open champion Russell Knox and England’s Eddie Pepperell.
“You have got to balance out the team and I have got a lot of thinking to do over the next couple of days but I am getting there in my head,” Bjorn said
While Fitzpatrick closed with a 66 to tie for seventh in an event he had to win, Wallace knows his third victory of the season will give Bjorn pause for thought.
“I’ve stepped up to the mark and I’ve shown him exactly what I’m about,” said Wallace, who birdied the 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th and 18th to make the play-off after Westwood got to 20-under but bogeyed the 13th and struggled coming home.
“If he doesn’t pick me, then that’s absolutely fine but if he does, he knows he’s going to get exactly that in his team. I set myself positions where I have to do things and, more often than not, I get it done.”