European captain Bjorn goes with Garcia, experience for Cup picks
Has European Ryder Cup golf team captain Thomas Bjorn made the same mistake by selecting Sergio Garcia as a wild-card pick that Darren Clarke made with Lee Westwood two years ago at Hazeltine?
That was the most pertinent question after Bjorn picked the 2017 Masters winner along with Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson to fill out his team to face the USA at Le Golf National in Paris this month.
The quartet joins automatic selections Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Jon Rahm and Justin Rose.
Bjorn opted for the vastly-experienced-but-out-of-form Ryder Cup veteran over in-form players Rafa Cabrera Bello, Thomas Pieters and Matt Wallace.
Cabrera Bello finished tied for seventh in the Dell Technologies Championship, tied for 11th in the Wyndham Championship and tied for 10th in the PGA Championship. He is one place higher than Garcia on the Official World Golf Ranking, 29th to Garcia’s 30th.
Wallace will feel aggrieved since he won the final European qualifying tournament, the Made in Denmark. Wallace birdied seven of his last eight holes to win the championship, his third victory of the season. Pieters has also shown a return to form recently, with three top-10s in his last five starts.
Garcia didn’t make the FedExCup Playoffs. He’s missed seven cuts since the Masters, including three in his last five starts. He did place eighth in this year’s French Open, his first experience of the Ryder Cup course.
The Dane will hope he doesn’t suffer the same fate as Clarke two years ago when he picked Westwood based on experience, only for Westwood to go
0-3 in his 10th Ryder Cup. Garcia assumes Westwood’s mantle this time as the most experienced player in Bjorn’s side. The 38-year-old is making his ninth appearance in the biennial match. His record in the contest is 19-11-7.
Garcia’s selection was helped by Bjorn having five rookies in his team. Selecting Wallace would have made it six.
Cabrera Bello and Pieters played well two years ago in their Ryder Cup debuts. The Spaniard, who has two
top-5s in his last three starts at Le Golf National, won 21⁄ points out of three,
2 while Pieters went 4-1.
Bjorn has taken a huge gamble on Garcia, one that could hinder Europe’s chances of winning the Ryder Cup.