Gallacher has advice for Bjorn’s hopefuls
All eyes will be on Thorbjorn Olesen this week as the year-long process to make Europe’s Ryder Cup team reaches a crescendo.
The Dane’s superb summer has taken him to the brink of the final qualifying spot. One more fantastic week at the Made in Denmark tournament could be enough to secure his Ryder Cup debut at Le Golf National. Stephen Gallacher knows exactly how Olesen will be feeling. He was in the same position four years ago as he chased a spot at Gleneagles. Gallacher couldn’t quite secure an automatic place, but captain Paul McGinley was impressed enough with his golf that season to hand him a wildcard. Stephen hasn’t been close to qualifying this time, but he’s still fascinated to see how Thomas Bjorn’s team for Paris will shape up. “Thorbjorn will definitely be feeling it, but he’ll really want this,” says the Linlithgow-based golfer. “Once you get a sniff of being in the Ryder Cup, it’s all you are thinking about. It’s exhausting and your head is dominated by how many world-ranking points you need. “Thorbjorn is young and he’s never played in it before, so he will be desperate to get in. Plus there is his friendship with Thomas. “I was a bit surprised he didn’t play in the Czech Republic in the last few days, but he’s been on such a long run of events, what with going over to America as well. “But he’s had a week off, so he will be fresh and will want to have a good go at the Made in Denmark. “The money is not like at a Rolex Series event or a Major, so he’ll have to feature high up. “It’s a yearly process to qualify, but Thorbjorn has had a brilliant summer. You want guys on form in the team, like him and Francesco Molinari. “The pressure will be there, but it’s also a driving force to do well. You are pushing hard and that definitely helps. “It was during the middle of the season in 2014 that I started to think I could make the team. I was fifth at the PGA at Wentworth, I lost in a play-off in Sweden and I had a good Scottish Open. “In the last two events, I finished 7th at the Czech Masters and then I was third in Italy. I knew what I had to do to qualify and that was great as golfers like a target. “Two years ago, Thomas Pieters needed to do well to have a chance of a wildcard and he was second in the Czech Republic and won in Denmark. “The good thing for Thorbjorn is that he will know what he needs to do. It’s so difficult when things are out of your hands. “He’ll embrace the challenge. He’s playing on Thomas’ home course, in his own country, where the crowd will be like a 12th man for him. “How special would it be to qualify in those circumstances.” As Olesen chases the last of the eight automatic places, that still leaves four wildcards for Bjorn to complete his 12-man line-up. Gallacher doesn’t him envy that task, with around seven players chasing those spots. “If Thorbjorn qualifies, that would be five rookies, so I could see Thomas picking four guys who have played before. “I see Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Paul Casey being picked. Then it’s probably four guys for one spot – Sergio Garcia, Thomas Pieters, Rafa CabreraBello or Russell Knox. “Russell will have to play well in the next play-off event in America. But by winning in Ireland and finishing second on the Ryder Cup course at the French Open, he will have given Thomas a headache. “It’s a hard job for the captain, and you can see why he wants to talk it through with different people. “America are flying at the moment, but we’re at home and I think we will have a very strong and well-balanced team ourselves. “It should all make for an unbelievable spectacle.”