European Team Captain Jose Maria Olazabal selected Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts as his two picks to complete the twelve member Ryder Cup team.
The European Team currently holds the Ryder Cup after their one point win at Celtic Manor in 2010. The European Team has won six of the last eight Ryder Cups and they will bring a very confident and experienced team to Medinah Country Club.
There was some controversy in the process as Padraig Harrington, a three time major champion and a member on the last six European Ryder Cup Teams made a last minute push to make the team.
Although Harrington has won five times on the PGA Tour and has 14 European Tour wins, he has not played his best golf over the past two years of qualification. He did make a valiant effort this year to gain a captain’s pick. He finished top-10 in both the Masters and the U. S. Open, was T-34 in the Open Championship and finished T-14 at Kiawah in the PGA Championship.
It was just a case of too little too late for Captain Olazabal, however.
Harrington had fallen to No. 27 on the European Ryder Cup Points list and No. 19 on the World Ryder Cup Points list. Because many of the European players play on the PGA Tour, as well as, the European Tour Ryder Cup points are awarded on two separate lists for the European Team qualification.
The ten automatic qualifiers for the European Team are:
Luke Donald
Rory McIlroy
Graeme McDowell
Lee Westwood
Justin Rose
Sergio Garcia
Paul Lawrie
Francesco Molinari
Peter Hanson
Martin Kaymer
Ian Poulter was just outside of earning enough points to automatically qualify. Poulter has been on four Ryder Cup teams. He is a tenacious match play specialist. He won the 2010 WGC-Accenture Match Play and the 2011 Volvo World Match Play Championship. He also had top-10 finishes in the Masters, the Open Championship, and the PGA Championship this year.
Nicolas Colsaerts will be the only Ryder Cup rookie on the European Team. He is the longest driver on the European Tour and won the 2012 Volvo Match Play.
Captain Olazabal will bring a very experienced team to Medinah. He will have four solid two man teams for the Four-Ball and Foursome matches each day. All of his team members are playing well right now and should be in good form for the Ryder Cup.