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Blog posts tagged with 'Clarke'

Ryder Cup 2016 - Captain's Picks

With just one month to go until this year's Ryder Cup, the team is now confirmed. European captain Darren Clarke named his three Ryder Cup picks on Tuesday afternoon:

Martin Kaymer

Lee Westwood

Thomas Pieters

I suppose we could have picked Lee Westwood based on his past experiences and his performance in the majors this year. A T2 finish at Augusta was followed by T32 in the U.S. Open and T22 in The Open – not bad for a guy in his twilight years on tour.

Could Clarke have done anything but pick Thomas Pieters after he requested to play with him in last week's Made in Denmark event; only for Pieters to shoot a first round 8-under-par before going on to win the tournament? This came on the back of his 4th place finish at the Rio Olympic Games. Talk about form.

Martin Kaymer's selection, however, could be seen as the debatable one. However if you recall, he did hole the winning putt in 2012 and has valuable experience to offer. One man that may feel slightly aggrieved at missing out is Scotland’s Russell Knox. The PGA Tour based golfer is sitting at 20th in the world rankings (only 5 of the European Team are ranked better) having had several top 10 finishes this season. With his win in this month’s Travelers Championship mixed with his knowledge of American golf courses, you can’t help but feel a little sorry for Knox.

In the end it’s a mix of youth and experience for the Europeans with six rookies on the European side. How will Love III go about choosing his four Captain’s Picks? He has a wealth of talent to choose from, with the likes of Watson, Fowler, Kuchar and Furyk currently sitting outside the automatic spots – not bad when you already have Dustin, Spieth and Mickelson in the team!

Regardless of who makes the final cut, let's hope we can look forward to some more great golf just as we saw at Medinah Country Club in 2012 when it was last in America.