Finally – after the full 72 holes of the BMW PGA Championship at England’s Wentworth Golf Club, and three long years since the last Ryder Cup at Le Golf National in 2018 – both team rosters are complete for the upcoming matches at Whistling Straits. Pádraig Harrington (above) named his three captain’s picks Sunday evening to round out the European team, which next week will defend the 43rd Ryder Cup in Wisconsin, following a year’s delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Entering the BMW PGA Championship, five of Team Europe’s nine automatic qualifying spots had been determined – Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Rory McIlroy, Paul Casey and Viktor Hovland – with four more to be decided by how the rest of the contenders finished in the European Tour’s flagship event.
Tyrrell Hatton and Matt Fitzpatrick made the team even after the former missed the cut in his title defense. Harrington had said previously that Sergio García, who didn’t play at Wentworth, and Ian Poulter, who missed the cut, were virtual locks to two of his three picks.
Eventually after a volatile four days of players jockeying for position, Bernd Wiesberger qualified through the European points list, while Lee Westwood edged out Shane Lowry for the last qualifying spot from the World points list despite a rocky final round at Wentworth that included two double bogeys and a triple.
That left Harrington making his televised captain’s picks from Wentworth, home of the European PGA Tour.
The first was an “easy pick,” according to Harrington – Lowry, the 34-year-old Irishman who won the 2019 British Open and will be one of three rookies on this year’s European squad. “We don’t think of him as a rookie,” Harrington said. “Everybody thinks of him as a winner and an experienced player. Shane is a big-time player. He delivers consistently under pressure.”
Following a difficult final round at Wentworth, Lowry was sitting with his father and a couple of friends in the player’s lounge.
“Everyone was getting a bit nervous, a bit antsy,” he said. “People were calling me and stuff like that. I was called over to the office – I was called into the principal’s office – and he just gave me a hug and said, ‘Congrats.’
“We had a little conversation. It was obviously a very special moment to have my dad here. He’s gone off to the airport now, but I’ve got a great picture of the two of us when we both found out, so that’s pretty cool.
“It’s amazing. For me it’s been a career-long goal to get to the Ryder Cup. Obviously, Pádraig being captain is extra special for me as I’m very good friends with him. I’m just so happy that I got a pick. It’s been a stressful week and a stressful few hours.”
“I’m super excited. I’ve said it from the beginning of the year. It was my biggest goal to be able to make this Ryder Cup team and keep helping the European team as much as I could.”
Sergio García
The next captain’s pick was García, Europe’s all-time leading points scorer with 25½ points (22-12-7). The veteran of nine Ryder Cups went 3-1 at the 2018 Ryder Cup. “He’s a leader,” Harrington said. “He loves match play. He’s a great ballstriker, he’s well-suited to the golf course, but it’s what he does for the team. He really, really leads out that team in the Ryder Cup whether it’s foursomes or four-balls, very versatile. He’s a player that gets out there and gets the job done.”
“I’m super excited,” García said from his home in Austin, Texas. “I’ve said it from the beginning of the year. It was my biggest goal to be able to make this Ryder Cup team and keep helping the European team as much as I could. Obviously, there are other goals that were there but Ryder Cup was the biggest thing. I’m so thrilled to be part of it now.”
Harrington’s final choice was Poulter, the legendary Ryder Cup performer who will compete for a seventh time. The 41-year-old Englishman, nicknamed “The Postman” because he always delivers on Sunday, is undefeated in six singles matches (5-0-1). He went 2-2 in 2018 and owns an impressive lifetime mark of 14-6-2.
“He’s proved it,” Harrington said. “He’s undefeated in singles. He brings an unbelievable passion to the team room. He brings incredible passion to his matches. He lifts himself; he lifts his playing partner; he lifts the team.
“But you can’t pick a player just based on that. He has played great all year. His stats are brilliant. He’s played some of the best ballstriking golf of his life. I’m thrilled. Not only am I getting a player like Ian Poulter who delivers, I’m actually getting a player who’s in form. Great form. Probably the best form of his life.”
Harrington knows his team looks good on paper.
“I’m really happy with my teammates,” he said. “Great team for foursomes and four-ball play, a lot of good ball-strikers, real good ball-strikers. It’s a team going to Whistling Straits that is well suited for the golf course. Very strong, very rounded, very balanced team.”
Staff and Wire Reports