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Ryder Cup European Wild Cards

Slab said:
A no win situation for Bjorn, he picks Sergio then a section of golfers won't approve, he picks Rafa and a different section will disagree

Still it means no-ones talking about the validity of the other three picks so he surely nailed them :)
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I have to disagree with that Rafa on merit earned it way ahead of Sergio. He has been way more consistent and clearly been playing better golf. I actually think the media would have embraced Rafa and agreed that Sergio's form didn't warrant a captains pick.

What's done is done and I feel Bjorn has made a mistake and bowed to pressure.
 
PieMan said:
Sorry, think your post should've read "Should English or Northern Irish players be allowed in the Ryder Cup side after Brexit..........."!!!

Oh to have Monty, Lawrie and Woosie in their primes to beef up the British contingent.
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Why should it only be English and Northern Ireland?

As for the picks, I think Casey, Poulter and Stenson were almost assured, my main concern is that Stenson is reported to have a elbow injury, so not sure how that will fair.
I’m a little shocked about the Garcia inclusion over the likes of RCB, I think Bjorn has gone with his heart over his head, I hope it pans out but can’t see it. It is his team however and I’ll still be hopeful they can get the job done.
If I had to choose I would have left out both Garcia and Poulter, Garcia for obvious reason, Poulter has been steady, last Ryder cup he played he was not good, and with bombers in the American team if he plays foursomes his partner could be a distinct disadvantage of hitting much longer clubs into greens.
Only my opinion 😳
 
Caught a bit of the repeat of the announcement and subsequent interview with Bjorn on Sky last night, and with regard to Sergio the reasoning went way beyond what he brings to the team on the course. From what I saw Bjorn was also highlighting his qualities off the course and what he added to the team behind the scenes, being more or less the team leader in the locker room; encouraging and mentoring others etc. And on that point, people have overlooked the fact that Rahm is playing in his first Ryder Cup - who would you rather have paired with and mentoring him? Garcia - who is a major winner and has been there and done it countless times; or RCB, who is still relatively inexperienced in RC terms? I know who'd I have.
 
JT77 said:
Why should it only be English and Northern Ireland?
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I was being a bit cheeky in suggesting that the strength of Scottish and Welsh golf at the moment was not as strong as English or NI (ok Rory!!) so they'd have no hope of having anyone playing in the RC!
 
So, Westwood in his interview said they discussed very little in terms of players as they were all in agreement of the four picks.

100% CONFIRMED = old boys club, Sergio is a good guy bring him on board.

Good to hear Coltart saying Rafa deserved to be picked.
 
I don't have a major problem with Garcia. He has never had a pick previously and is certainly deserving of one given his career, his Ryder Cup record and his Masters win.

Personally feel RCB has been very harshly done by and it seems that even a win in Boston wouldn't have been enough.

My main problem with Sergio is that having got himself into decent form at the Wyndham and finished -12 or so, he didn't play another event after that.

Was he scared that if he bombed in Denmark, it would be even harder for Bjron to pick him? Did Bjorn really tell him he didn't care if he played or not?
Surely as a pro golfer, who is suddenly finding the middle of the club face again, you'd be keen to compete again and back yourself to do well in a tournament.

He's not playing this week despite, I believe, having a house near the event in Switzerland, and so would only have the KLM or Portugal Masters to play in prior to the Ryder Cup. Personally don't feel it's great prep to go into a big event not having played any competitive golf for the best part of 6 weeks so I really hope he plays at least one of the next 2 weeks.

And I'd back him to do well in one of those events.
 
When it's all done and dusted we'll know the answers in Bjorn's book when it comes out!
 
Also worth noting that if Sergio had qualified for the Fed Ex playoffs, he would surely have continued to play in the East Coast of America for the whole month / as long as he was exempt for the next event.
 
pauljames87 said:
"Unfortunately because of how the year went I had to play five weeks in a row in the summer, eight weeks out of 10 - and I'm not 25 any more, I'm 38," said Garcia.

how many of those 5 weeks did he actually play the entire weekend though? ..... missed cut is half a work load
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Come on. The actual playing isn't the hard part of playing 5 weeks in a row. It's the being away from home, the constant travel, playing a few rounds of golf less doesn't make it any less difficult.

What I struggle with is if it's Sergio's influence in the Team-Room that's so important rather than his form and it was so hard to leave RCB out for golfing reasons - why not just make Sergio a VC and pick RCB? Get the best of both worlds then.
 
Dan2501 said:
Come on. The actual playing isn't the hard part of playing 5 weeks in a row. It's the being away from home, the constant travel, playing a few rounds of golf less doesn't make it any less difficult.

What I struggle with is if it's Sergio's influence in the Team-Room that's so important rather than his form and it was so hard to leave RCB out for golfing reasons - why not just make Sergio a VC and pick RCB? Get the best of both worlds then.
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nail on the head with that last bit............
 
Dan2501 said:
Come on. The actual playing isn't the hard part of playing 5 weeks in a row. It's the being away from home, the constant travel, playing a few rounds of golf less doesn't make it any less difficult.

What I struggle with is if it's Sergio's influence in the Team-Room that's so important rather than his form and it was so hard to leave RCB out for golfing reasons - why not just make Sergio a VC and pick RCB? Get the best of both worlds then.
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I may be wrong but I don't think a VC can talk/give advice etc to players during a round, just Bjorn and the player you're playing with (Garcia) so its a big bit missed if he's not a player

Edit: although he could go as a caddie :-)
 
Liverpoolphil said:
Really good article from the interview with Bjorn explaining his reasoning

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp....s-captain-pick-for-europe-ryder-cup-team-golf

And from Sergio

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.rte.ie/amp/991905/
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Thanks for posting . Surely Sergio has to now play some kid of competitive golf between now and the RC though ??? He's now in the team regardless. It'll be madness to turn up and hoping everything kicks in. You wouldn't drive from Lands End to John O'Groats in your car without making sure your engine works properly. "failtopreparepreparetofail
 
Dan2501 said:
Come on. The actual playing isn't the hard part of playing 5 weeks in a row. It's the being away from home, the constant travel, playing a few rounds of golf less doesn't make it any less difficult.

What I struggle with is if it's Sergio's influence in the Team-Room that's so important rather than his form and it was so hard to leave RCB out for golfing reasons - why not just make Sergio a VC and pick RCB? Get the best of both worlds then.
Click to expand...

It’s a valid point and I believe it was something Monty mentioned in 2010 when he picked Harrington as the “team leader” - but it appears a number of times the players are given time when the captains etc leave the locker room and that’s when your playing Captains step up - it was something that the US did for the first time last year when they let Mickleson give a speech. I guess it’s just getting that influence from the players teeing up with you . I think if you look back each European team has that one or two player who could be classed as the playing captain
 
Liverpoolphil said:
Really good article from the interview with Bjorn explaining his reasoning

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp....s-captain-pick-for-europe-ryder-cup-team-golf

And from Sergio

https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.rte.ie/amp/991905/
Click to expand...

Good to read the comments from Sergio that he plans to play before the Ryder Cup.

The saving grace was that he did do a bit of scoring at the Wyndham so entirely possible that he has turned a corner and we will see his game in good shape in Paris
 
I would expect Sergio to play 3 matches, both 4balls with Rahm and obviously the singles. I think he will deliver.
 
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