SHEBOYGAN – Team Europe Captain Padraig Harrington finalized the 12 members of his team on following the conclusion of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth Club in Surrey, England, the final tournament to determine the automatic qualifiers and the captain’s picks for this week’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.
With his captain’s picks, Harrington chose Ryder Cup veterans Sergio Garcia of Spain and Ian Poulter of England along with Ireland’s Shane Lowry, who will be making his event debut.Left off the team was Justin Rose of England, who has played in the past four Ryder Cups for Europe.
Harrington said he selected Garcia and Poulter for their abilities but also for their leadership. Garcia is Team Europe’s all-time points scorer in Ryder Cup play, and Poulter will be playing in his seventh event. As for Lowry, who won The Open Championship in 2019, Harrington said he earned his first opportunity.
Entering Sunday, Harrington knew five of the players who would be traveling to Wisconsin but had to await the results of the tournament to determine four more automatic qualifiers. They turned out to be 11-time Team Europe member Lee Westwood of England and 35-year-old Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, a Ryder Cup rookie. They were joined by England’s Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Fitzpatrick, who had all but wrapped up their spots.
Players who previously had secured their positions were world No. 1 Jon Rahm of Spain, Tommy Fleetwood and Paul Casey of England, Viktor Hovland of Norway and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland. This will be the first Ryder Cup for Hovland.
The United States team will attempt to regain the coveted Ryder Cup, which Team Europe won 17 1/2 to 10 1/2 in 2018 at Le Golf National in Paris. The delayed 2020 Ryder Cup will be held Sept. 24-26 on American turf again in rural Wisconsin, along the shore of Lake Michigan.
Team USA consists of automatic qualifiers Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay, along with captains picks Jordan Spieth, Harris English, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler.