Victorious Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn has put real Whistling Straits selection pressure on Europe’s top ‘rookies’, including the likes of leading Scot Robert MacIntyre.
The highest-ranked four players off the ‘European’ points list, then the leading five from the ‘world’ ranking points, will automatically be on Padraig Harrington’s Whistling Straits side, and with Harrington choosing three ‘wildcard’ picks.
MacIntyre is currently lying 10th on the ‘European’ standings and effectively eighth, and just three spots outside the top-five on the ‘World’ list.
Thomas Bjorn says it would be good to have one or two roookies in Padraig Harrington’s Ryder Cup side
Just two rookies are on Harrington’s team at present including Dundee-based Frenchman Victor Perez, who leads the ‘World’ points and past Scottish Open winner, Bernd Wiesberger lying fifth.
Bjorn had five rookies qualify automatically for his Versailles side – Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Alen Noren and Thorbjorn Olesen.
He then went with four ‘heavyweights’ in Paul Casey, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter as his wildcard selections.
And Thomas insists Harrington will need to do the same going with experience when asked the likelihood of Perez and MacIntyre being selected if they did not qualify automatically
Bjorn said: “I don’t think there will be too many rookies in Padraig’s team and there probably needs someone like Victor or Robert who will be a little bit of an unknown cards, so it will be nice to have one or two of those in your side
“Padraig always says that being a wildcard is a difficult situation to be in because you feel you’re under pressure to deliver much more than when you have automatically qualified for the team on merit.
“You would like to see one or two rookies qualify.”
Of the rookies in the Whistling Straits mix, Bjorn is clearly impressed with the Dundee-based Perez, and still the reigning 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links champion and given the cancellation of last year’s event.
Bjorn said: “Victor’s showing a lot of maturity in his game and if I was Padraig, this is the type of guy I would want as he’s big-hitting, and he goes about his business so good, works very hard and analyses his game well.”
