Paul Casey, Justin Rose out of Europe’s Ryder Cup team
Europe’s Ryder Cup team has been finalised with obvious exclusions coming in the shape of Paul Casey and Justin Rose on Sunday at the Gleneagles.
The much awaited European team has finally been selected with Europe’s top 12 golfers getting the nod of approval from Captain Colin Montgomerie. However, two people – world number 9 Paul Casey along with Justin Rose, the winner of two majors in one season, did not make the cut. Seems like they got the punishment for not taking serious interest in chasing the Ryder Cup! Both players had earlier decided not to participate in the Johnnie Walker Championship which was aimed to finalize the names of the 12 players for the Ryder Cup.
No doubt this was one of the most crucial times for Captain Colin Montgomerie, as he faced a lot of stress in choosing wild cards entries on Sunday. Although the top three placements of the forth day leader board made it quite easy for the captain, but rest of the team was a complete package of constant hammering. The top three players in the Johnnie Walker Championship were easy to find as the list started with the name of Edoardo Molinari, followed by Padraig Harrington and Luke Donald.
Automatic qualifiers in the team had Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell, Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher, Francesco Molinari, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Peter Hanson. It seems as if the Johnnie Walker Championship proved lucky for Bernhard Hunt and Geoff Hunt. Credit for their selection can just not be given to luck. Both golfers should be thankful to Justin and Rose who took a wrong decision of not appearing in the penultimate event of the season.
Colin Montgomerie, the man who was behind the wild card picks told the press that it was very hard for him to decide whom to put in the team especially when the top four of the Fed Ex list, Padraig Harrington, Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Justin Rose, did not show up at the last moment. However, when Edoardo Molinari scored three birdies at the last hole, Monty decided that Edoardo was in the team.
As for the players who won’t be seen at the Celtic Manor, all one can do is feel sorry and this is what Colin Montgomerie is doing too. However, the strange part of this entire scenario is that by far, Colin has not faced any criticism from the remaining players. In fact, Colin reported a full back up from the two players, who after receiving the bad news from the captain, called him and showed their support. Other than these two contestants, Sergio Garcia has also been kicked out of the team of 12 but this does not mean he won’t take part in the Ryder Cup. The 30-year-old has joined vice-captains Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke for the big event.
According to experts, Colin made the right decision by choosing Padraig Harrington who has three major victories in the season. Luke Donald is another correct decision as the player has only one defeat in his bag for the season and that too due to a wrist injury.
To give a quick recap in the end, Europe’s Ryder Cup team has been finalized without Paul Casey and Justin Rose, who happen to fall in the top 22 players of the world. They’ve been ousted for not taking part in the Johnnie Walker Championship that ended last night at the Gleneagles Hotel.
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