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With the World's Top-3 and five more from the World’s Top-20 set to be joined by Tiger Woods (or maybe not… No, just kidding, he’ll be there) and the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, Matt Kuchar and many more superstars scrapping for Captain’s Picks, the competition is stiff as Tiger’s back this time last year. But Europe won't go down without a fight.
Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren and, as of this week, Ian Poulter are currently the automatic qualifiers. There may be more Captain’s Picks (4) than ever before, but they’re still at a premium. So… who gets a golden ticket to Paris-dise? (Badum-tish!)
Sergio Garcia
Form is temporary, class is permanent…. Or so they say… Or so Sergio will be pleading to Thomas Bjorn. His form has been truly abysmal since getting married and having a kid (Excuse me? I would never imply such a thing!), but 2017 was his best year ever, so to suggest he is “past it” is absurd. Sergio’s in a slump, but he can get out of it. It’s now just a race against time to do so before September.
I have a feeling it will be a stretch too far for the Spaniard this year, but he's a hard man to leave out.
Thorbjorn Olesen
The polar opposite of Sergio, Olesen is in the form of his life. His win at the Italian Open started a strange string of form: 1-MC-T2-MC, before finding consistency for a run of T6-T12-T3 prior to his T56 at the PGA Championship. He’s now figurative fingertips from automatic qualification, but he’ll have to outplay Ian Poulter for a Ryder Cup spot. Good luck, fella. You’ll need it.
For me, he needs automatic qualification because there are too many Team Europe stalwarts around him to warrant a Captain’s Pick based solely on form.
Paul Casey
Consistent, but couldn’t outplay the world’s best on their day. He won’t be the man to lose you the Ryder Cup, but he also won’t be the man to win you the Ryder Cup. It comes down to whether Thomas Bjorn believes he has enough match-winners to justify a safe option. He hasn't played since the 2008 loss, which was followed by three consecutive wins. He’s a no-go for me.
Henrik Stenson
From Consistent Casey to Solid Stenson. The difference is that Stenson can do it on the biggest stage. Sure, he hasn’t done it for a while, but he can. He’s statistically outstanding all-round, even during a title drought. He’s a no-brainer for me.
Rafa Cabrera Bello
Simple: He knows how to win Ryder Cup matches. 12 months ago people might’ve expected him to be an automatic qualifier, but he never really got going. His T10 at the PGA Championship moved him a couple places up to 28th in the World Rankings; 10 places lower than he was after missing the cut at last year’s event. I expect him to find form and sneak in.
Thomas Pieters
It’s crazy to think 2016 was his debut. His performance at Hazeltine didn’t feel like that of a 24-year-old rookie. After being blitzed by Dustin Johnson & Matt Kuchar alongside Lee Westwood on Friday morning, Pieters teamed up with McIlroy to win 3 of 3 before picking up a fourth point- a European rookie record- against J.B. Holmes in the Sunday Singles. He won Made in Denmark in 2016 to cap off a late surge for a Captain's Pick. I think he’ll finish strongly again and nail down a pick.
Written by Joe Carabini
