Bjorn opts for experience with wild-card picks

The chance of playing another Ryder Cup kept Ian Poulter motivated through his dark times over the last two years. Paul Casey made major changes to his schedule in order to get another shot at golf’s greatest team event.

Throughout his own recent slump, Sergio Garcia was in regular conversation with close friend Thomas Bjorn in an effort to stay in the European captain’s thinking. It all paid off on Wednesday. In a selection that rewarded experience over form, Bjorn balanced a team overflowing with rookies by picking Garcia, Poulter, Casey and Henrik Stenson as his wild-cards for Europe’s bid to regain the Ryder Cup from the United States in Paris from Sept. 28-30.

“You need people like that,” Bjorn said, “who have been there and done it, positively and negatively.”

Bjorn wasn’t short of options as he weighed up who to add to a team containing automatic qualifiers Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Thorbjorn Olesen, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood and Alex Noren.

Up-and-coming Englishman Matt Wallace perhaps made the strongest case for inclusion after winning the Made In Denmark event last weekend — in front of Bjorn on his home course — for his third victory in 15 starts on the European Tour.

But selecting Wallace would have meant Europe had a sixth rookie, along with Olesen, Rahm, Hatton, Fleetwood and Noren. In the end, Bjorn leant on Europe’s tried and tested.

The four captain’s picks have made 20 Ryder Cup appearances between them, and each has won at least 50 percent of their matches in the competition. Their average age is 40.75.