OLD GUARD GET RYDER CALL
Bjorn takes wild bet on Garcia and Casey to come good in Paris
The old debate about whether current form or experience is the most important factor when choosing Ryder Cup wildcards will be taken to a whole new level in Paris later this month after europe captain Thomas Bjorn placed all his eggs in the latter basket yesterday.
With five rookies in his team, it was no surprise to see him lean heavily on the great names from Ryder Cups past when selecting his four wildcards. But to ignore the men who have been winning or contending for titles in recent weeks is certainly new, and leaves Bjorn desperately hoping that the old saying, ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent’, proves correct once more.
Given the unquestioned pedigree of Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter, there must be every chance of that happening. But there remains the nagging memory of what has happened to great Ryder Cup players of yore who went into this unique pressure-cooker of an event struggling for form. Indeed, think back just two years ago to hazeltine. Justin Rose is entitled to his opinion expressed last Sunday that europe had too many rookies last time — there were six — but it could just as easily be argued that there were too many experienced players, given the poor contributions of wildcards Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood.
Their previous heroics proved no protection when their nerve failed them so completely it became hard to watch. In seven matches, the only point they mustered came from Kaymer in the singles when the cup was already America’s.
Now, Garcia will become the first man in Ryder Cup history to play in the event having missed the halfway cut in all four majors, and Stenson has been affected by a nagging elbow injury this summer. Casey’s form has cooled since his blistering play early this season, leaving Poulter as the only one of the four picks who everyone could agree deserves his place.
Too negative? Let’s hope so. But it’s 25 years since America last won on foreign soil and just as long since I felt as fearful for europe’s chances at a home Ryder Cup.
There has to be sympathy for Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Matt Wallace. With four points out of five in 2016, Thomas Pieters showed the value of picking a player bang in form, and Londoner Wallace seemed to tick the same boxes after emulating the Belgian in winning the last qualifying event on Sunday in spectacular style. As for Cabrera-Bello, he came so close to making it, he would have displaced Thorbjorn Olesen for the last automatic spot if the process had ended after the Dell Technologies Championship in Boston on Monday — where he notched his fourth top-15 finish in five events — rather than Sunday.
As for the starry quartet who got the nod, the joy in the voices of all four was unmistakable as they seek to recapture the feelings of all the Ryder Cup victories to which they contributed.
Listening to them, it wasn’t difficult to see why Bjorn was swayed. They have all the qualities to make the exciting quintet of rookies — Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell hatton, Jon Rahm, Alex Noren and Olesen — feel right at home, and there are some obvious partnerships that must also have enticed the Dane.
Garcia and Rahm, for instance; Casey and Poulter with Fleetwood and hatton. Stenson to renew his brilliant partnership with Rose or form a new one with Noren or Olesen. There’s no shortage of logic in Bjorn’s decisions. It just needs the experienced men to deliver to make it work, and that’s the great unknown . . . and the great worry.
Garcia may be under the most pressure of all. If all goes well, and he delivers three points or more, he will overtake Sir Nick Faldo as the all-time leading points-scorer for either side. ‘he’s the heartbeat of this team,’ said Bjorn, with feeling.
But this Ryder Cup, perhaps more than any in recent times, is not one for a heart feeling faint or a dodgy putting stroke.
It’s advantage America, therefore, following the two wildcard ceremonies. Whereas the europe one came with so many caveats, what the inform Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau will bring to the party is patently obvious. Twenty-three of the 24 names are now known, with one wildcard for the Americans remaining, and the gutsy Tony Finau is expected to complete their line-up on Monday.
There are the final two Fedex Cup play- off events to be contested before the sides assemble in France and what europe need to see is dazzling golf from some of their stars. Imagine what it would do for morale if Rory McIlroy were to return to winning ways, or Stenson to show he’s truly over his elbow problems. Perhaps most of all, at the Portugal Masters in two weeks, it would be good to see something of the real Garcia.
Momentum is everything in a Ryder Cup — and europe could do with it shifting in their direction with magnificent Versailles drawing ever closer.