Wednesday, November 6, 2024
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Europe’s Ryder Cup team is perfect, says former skipper

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LONDON: Europe captain Jose Maria Olazabal was right to ignore triple major winner Padraig Harrington’s claims for a wildcard pick and his 12-man team is just about perfect, said former skipper Bernard Gallacher.

Olazabal picked Belgian rookie Nicolas Colsaerts and Englishman Ian Poulter as his wildcard choices on Monday for the biennial event against United States on September 28-30.

The pair join automatic selections Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Graeme McDowell, Peter Hanson, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Francesco Molinari and Paul Lawrie in a powerful lineup.

“It’s a very strong side,” Gallacher told Reuters in an interview. “They are the best 12 players in Europe – it’s perfect.

“There were absolutely no surprises. Jose Maria reduced the amount of wildcard picks from three to two this time round and the strong message he gave was that he wanted the players to play their way into the team.

“That’s exactly what’s happened. Martin Kaymer was in the 10th and final automatic position, Colsaerts was number 11 and the next highest player in the world rankings not already in the side was Poulter,” said Gallacher who led Europe in 1991, 1993 and 1995.

The Scot echoed the sentiments of Olazabal when he said Harrington was too low on the Ryder Cup points list – at number 19 – to be picked.

The Irishman performed well in two of this year’s majors, finishing fourth at the U.S. Open and eighth at the Masters, but his form has not been good enough in the regular events.

“Jose Maria has actually gone straight down the points list – those that are playing good golf have been selected and Harrington was just too far down,” said Gallacher.

Harrington has concentrated more on majors rather than in regular tournaments, where Ryder Cup points are earned, says Gallacher. (Reuters)

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