Thomas Bjorn and Jim Furyk have no easy task in picking their Ryder Cup teams
The more one looks at the names, the more it becomes clear how difficult the task that Furyk and, in particular, Bjorn have ahead of them
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Your support makes all the difference.It started with Jim Furyk and Thomas Bjorn hitting balls off the top of the Eiffel Tower - you’d hope, with some sort of safety provisions - and it will end with 12 of Europe’s finest preparing to tee off at Le Golf National near Paris. But what will happen in the intervening period, the year-long countdown to the Ryder Cup, is anyone’s guess.
Furyk’s USA team will undoubtedly boast some ferocious talent, not least the current top-three ranked players in the world, and while there is some flexibility on the fringes, you could easily fill out the core of the American team with some players that are absolute certainties.
They are the bookmakers’ favourites, even on foreign soil, and when you start writing the names down it is easy to see why. Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson are the biggest stars, while Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed also bring some youthful exuberance to the team. Brooks Koepka, a hero at Hazeltine, looks certain to go as does Justin Thomas. Matt Kuchar looks good on rankings to make his fifth Ryder Cup at 39 years old. Pocket-sized lefty Brian Harman looks like he could make a Ryder Cup debut as an automatic selection.
While Furyk will have some tough calls to make on his wildcards, choosing from a list of names that includes Phil Mickelson isn’t the hardest thing to do. The bulk of his team is already terrifying, but Thomas Bjorn - with four wildcards, rather than three, after a rule change - must find the formula to win the Ryder Cup on home soil.
Rory McIlroy, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, Paul Casey and Thomas Pieters feel fairly locked in as European selections while Alex Noren’s position on the European rankings list will almost certainly see him make his debut - even if he mightn’t have been the most obvious pick. Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Tommy Fleetwood also seem to have very strong chances, but then you start looking outwards and wondering who is going to miss out.
Martin Kaymer, a Ryder Cup veteran, appears to have slipped too far and would require a stellar 2018 to find his way back into contention. Paul Casey is the talk of the town but there is enough certainty that he might need Bjorn’s intervention to find a spot on the team, while Chris Wood, Matt Fitzpatrick, Russell Knox and Nicolas Colsaerts are all going to need to play lights-out to get themselves into the reckoning.
Ian Poulter, nicknamed the Postman because he always delivers, will need a wildcard to return to the competition that has given him so many of his greatest moments in golf. But what of Tyrell Hatton? Some see him as Poulter’s heir and he appears to be someone that would thrive on this stage and yet it is likely that he’ll need some trophies under his belt early next year to have a strong chance of hopping across the channel.
You write these names down on paper, analyse the rankings and try to slot them all in to a 12-man team and it feels impossible. Especially when you remember Lee Westwood doesn’t even have a little scrap to himself, nor Alex Levy - the Frenchman who surely can’t be omitted from a Ryder Cup at his home course.
The more one looks at the names, the more it becomes clear how difficult the task that Jim Furyk and, in particular, Thomas Bjorn have ahead of them. But one of sport’s greatest team events doesn’t come easily. They signed up for this, now they must watch as the world’s finest golfers fight for their attention.
Predicted teams:
USA
1. Brooks Koepka
2. Justin Thomas
3. Jordan Spieth
4. Matt Kuchar
5. Dustin Johnson
6. Rickie Fowler
7. Brian Harman
8. Patrick Reed
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9. Bill Haas
10. Charley Hoffman
11. Zach Johnson
12. Phil Mickelson
Europe
1. Rory McIlroy
2. Sergio Garcia
3. Henrik Stenson
4. Justin Rose
5. Jon Rahm
6. Paul Casey
7. Thomas Pieters
8. Alex Noren
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9. Alex Levy
10. Tommy Fleetwood
11. Lee Westwood
12. Rafa Cabrera-Bello
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