Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
PIETERS PERFECT
Bjorn: Belgian ace can rule the world
THOMAS PIETERS has been marked out as a future world No.1 by Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn.
And the Great Dane has also tipped the Belgian to be a big star in his European team next year, along with Spanish sensation Jon Rahm.
Both young stars are bidding to become the first Masters firsttimers to win the title since 1979.
But they have already proved their class on US soil. Rahm won his first PGA Tour event at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, California in January.
And Pieters made the best debut ever by a rookie at the last Ryder Cup – winning four matches out of five – when Bjorn was then vicecaptain.
The new European skipper said: “The way I look at Thomas is very simple: he can be the best player in the world but it is up to him to make it happen.
“He knows that. He has to make a choice about what he wants to be and what he wants to do with his life but as a golfer, he is right up there with the absolute best in the world.
“He can match the top players for length, he can match them for quality, he can match them for calmness but he can also match them for aggression when required and there is no doubt he has fire in his belly.
“If you were going to build a golfer from scratch, you would build him. Now it is up to him to put in the work to be Thomas Pieters and not to try and be somebody else.”
Rahm has Phil Mickelson’s brother Tim as his manager after being coached by him at Arizona State University.
And three-time Masters winner Mickelson has claimed the world No.12 is already “one of the best players in the world.”
Bjorn added: “Rahm went a different route to a lot of his compatriots in the respect of making his life in America and succeeding in America.
“We have seen it before but we haven’t seen it a lot with Spanish players, who tend to have a very solid base in Europe and who like being near home. Many have gone and played in the US but we haven’t seen many take this route.
“When you watch Jon play you see he is so strong, he does everything well and he just looks like a modern golfer with the Spanish characteristics of charm and charisma. I really think he has a great future.
“He’s strong, and he looks like he’s loving it. There’s great talent coming round and he just looks like a guy who wants to get his nose in there on a Sunday, and in a Ryder Cup, like Thomas, those are the players you want.”
Only three men have won the Masters on their first appearance, with Fuzzy Zoeller the last 38 years ago. But these two potential superstars insist they can rewrite history.
“First-timers don’t usually have a great history at Torrey Pines either and I was able to win that,” said Rahm. “I kept that in mind. There’s nothing that says I’m going to play bad or that I should play bad.”
And Pieters, who played only two rounds at Augusta before Thursday, added: “It’s just a stat. It’s just like being the best rookie on the Ryder Cup Team. You know we lost.
“I’ve holed the winning putt at the Masters about a million times. I’ve watched it my whole life. We’ve all had that in practice, that winning putt. Hopefully one day.”