Thomas Bjorn had been appointed as Europe's Ryder Cup captain for less than a day when he announced the selection procedure for the 2018 match in the outskirts of Paris is already being assessed to ensure all the players he will require at the time will be available.
Bjorn, a vice-captain when Europe lost to the USA at Hazeltine in October, said a full-scale review into selection policy and planning is being undertaken by the Ryder Cup committee. Though he maintained it is too soon to discuss details, it is clear the Dane does not want a repeat of the situation that denied Darren Clarke the services of Paul Casey in the autumn because the Englishman had not taken up his membership of the European Tour. The same thing has happened with Sweden's Carl Pettersson in the past, another who lives in the US and plays almost exclusively on the PGA Tour.
“There’s a lot of nuances into this and they all need to be looked at,” Bjorn said. “Selection will be reviewed, and it should be, because the world and the game of golf is a moving thing. But we’re in no immediate rush and no panic to do it. We’ll look at it carefully. We might stay where we are but we might also come up with a few tweaks. Almost the biggest task at hand is not to get too panicked about not having the trophy on this side of the Atlantic at the moment. There’s so many aspects but I’m just trying to gather all the information to set out a plan.”
Europe lost 17-11 at Hazeltine, their first Ryder Cup defeat since 2008 and the biggest since 1981, and though various factors were at play, with several out-of-form rookies qualified for the team and the wildcard selections of Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer failing to pay off. The unavailability of Casey did not help either.
“I will go forward with what our players want and what we’re all about as a team. I also have my own thinking and concerns about what I can bring to it, and will give it my own twist,” said the 45-year-old Bjorn, who played for the European team in three separate decades – 1997, 2002 and 2014 – and was on the winning side every time. “We’ve been very successful in the past, and let’s not go away from that. We’ve won eight out of the last 11, it’s not like we have a system that’s faulty, and we always play against a very strong team.”
Bjorn, a fiery and forthright character, with the 2006 captain Ian Woosnam famously on the receiving end of his temper after he denied the Dane a wildcard in 2006, has been a Ryder Cup vice-captain four times and is adamant he intends to do the job his way.
“I’m grateful for all the past captains and the support I’ve had from them, and it’s nice for Ian to come out and be so supportive,” Bjorn said. “It’s a long time ago, so we go forward and we understand this is about Europe and the European team. So we all get behind those 12 players that need to play, and that’s a good thing. I’ve never been one for liking having things around me where people are trying to just say yes to me. I want them to tell me the truth. I think if you’re going to be forthright yourself, then you want the same from everyone else. That’s the way I believe in things and that’s what I expect for all the people I have around me.”
(Guardian service)
