Opportunity Knox for Russell – or does it?
STRAIGHT Talking Down The Middle
THE serious business of being a Ryder Cup captain begins now for Darren Clarke.
The fun part of the job is over. He will now be concentrating on making the three captain’s picks he believes will complement the nine players who have already qualified for his Hazeltine team.
Darren will let us all know on Tuesday at 12.30 from the ballroom in the Wentworth Clubhouse just who those men are.
The nine already confirmed are Rory McIroy, Danny Willett, Henrik Stenson and Chris Wood – who qualified from the European Tour list – and five from the World Points list – Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Andy Sullivan and Mathew Fitzpatrick.
Four highly-experienced players with seven Majors between them and five first-timers. Although it is difficult to label this year’s Masters Champion Danny Willett a rookie!
Darren likes the balance of his team and I can understand that. The newcomers coming in will bring excitement, youthfulness and adrenaline to the team-room.
The tricky question, though, is who does he now choose to make up the 12?.
Certain to be picked is Lee Westwood – and not just because he and Darren are best friends!
Lee has been a Ryder Cup stalwart ever since his first selection under Seve Ballesteros’s successful captaincy at Valderrama in 1997. He has played in every match since and I confidently expect him to be making his 10th appearance.
He will add the wealth of experience that being a Ryder Cupper for almost 20 years brings.
Martin Kaymer is the bookies’ favourite to be the second named player. His tied-7th finish in the US PGA Championship at Baltrusol last month probably clinched his place.
However, until then he was far from certain of a pick, despite being a two-time Major champion and holing the winning putt that completed the Miracle at Medinah in 2012.
Being a Scot, I truly hope Russell Knox gets the nod from Darren.
Currently he lies fifth on the PGA Tour money list and 18th on the World Rankings, having recently won The Travelers Championship. If the wild-card system is about current form, Russell ticks all the boxes.
Obviously, I would love to see a Scot on the team as we have always played a huge part in the history of the Ryder Cup.
When I made my debut in 1969, the skipper was not only a Scot, Eric Brown, but he and I were both members at Bathgate Golf Club.
I feel Luke Donald and Graeme McDowell, despite excellent performances in last week’s tournament at The Wyndham in North Carolina – especially from Luke who finished runner-up – are just too far down the respective lists to be considered. I know that will disappoint Captain Clarke.
My dark horse to get the nod is Belgian Thomas Pieters.
He narrowly missed out on qualifying automatically when he failed to successfully defend last week’s Czech Open, finishing second behind first-time winner, American Paul Peterson.
But captains like players who turn up, play well and try their heart out to make the team.
Stephen, my nephew, almost compelled Paul McGinley to pick him last time round when he finished strongly in the last counting event. After all, the whole idea about wild cards and last-minute selection is picking players bang in form.
Pieters is 6’ 5’’ and hits the ball a mile. With Hazeltine certain to be set up to favour the long-hitting Americans, Darren may take a punt with the big-hitting Belgian to perhaps make as big an impact as his countryman, Nicolas Colsaerts, did four years ago at Medinah.
He certainly got a close-up view of Pieters in action, when paired with the Belgian in Denmark on Thursday. Thomas took his opportunity to impress as he fired a nine-under-par 62.
So, on balance, I expect Tuesday’s wildcards to be Westwood and Kaymer. With, in racing parlance, Pieters making a late run at it.