By John Huggan
For all that the closing holes and four-man playoff won by Matt Wallace provided in terms of drama and excitement on Sunday at the Made in Denmark, for many the main focus of four days at Silkborg Ry Golf Club—European Ryder Cup skipper Thomas Bjorn’s home course—was the climax to the qualifying for team the Dane will take to Le Golf National just outside Paris later this month.

RELATED: Matt Wallace takes third European Tour title of 2018 in Denmark

With seven automatic qualifiers for the European Ryder Cup team—Francesco Molinari, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Alex Noren, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm—already in place, Thorbjorn Olesen’s T-20 finish was enough to claim the eighth and final spot. Olesen’s only possible challengers, Matt Fitzpatrick (T-7) and Eddie Pepperell (T-56,) both came up short of the victory needed (given that Olesen finished lower than T-7) for one of them to be on the plane to France later this month.

“It feels great,” Olesen said. “And such a relief at the end of a tough week. It has been a different kind of pressure. It’s been an incredible summer. I’ve played well, and it has been a lot of fun. I’ve watched the Ryder Cup since I was 6 years old. It looks so special. But it will help me having Thomas as captain. I hope I can get a few points for him and Europe. We look like having a great team.”

Bjorn will name the last four members of Europe’s squad on Wednesday at 9 a.m. EST.

“Now I know eight, I have to think about four,” said Bjorn with a smile. “It has been good to see Thorbjorn make the team. He’s played some great golf over the summer and thoroughly deserves his place.

“The one thing I’ve said to all of the guys is that this is not just about making the team. Now it is about getting out there and winning points. It’s now about playing in the event. It’s about what happens at the end of September, not the end of August.”

Not quite yet though. With five rookies already in his line-up, it is likely that Bjorn will lean towards past Ryder Cup experience when completing his squad. It would certainly come as no surprise to hear that Henrik Stenson, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter will be three of his picks. Perhaps his biggest decision will be whether or not to omit the out-of-form Sergio Garcia in favor of one from, say, Irish Open champion Russell Knox, the ever-consistent Rafa Cabrera-Bello or, as was the case with Thomas Pieters two years ago, an in-form birdie-machine like Wallace.

Still, while he was understandably giving nothing specific away, Bjorn did provide some hints as to his thinking.

“There is always the not knowing what players will be like in the Ryder Cup,” he said. “You have to get a feeling of how they are going to react in that environment. It is different. But when you look at the rookies this time, individually they have all won big events. And now I have to balance out the team. I have a lot of thinking to do over the next few days. But I’m getting there in my head.

“I’m pretty set on two or three names. But there is some discussion to be had. I know how I want to mix and match the players. But there is one little doubt in my head. Whatever though, this is going to be an exciting team. So many new guys will bring that excitement. I’m looking forward to it. I hope we can do Europe proud.”

The post Thorbjorn Olesen grabs Europe’s final automatic Ryder Cup qualifying spot as Thomas Bjorn mulls captain’s picks appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

By Ryan Herrington
Thorbjorn Olesen’s final-round 67 wasn’t enough to earn him the title at the European Tour’s Nordea Masters on Sunday (congrats to Paul Waring, a playoff winner over Thomas Aiken). But Olesen’s fourth-place finish, with four sub-70 rounds, did push the 28-year-old from Denmark into position to grab an automatic qualifying spot for the Ryder Cup team.

Olesen is projected to move into the fourth and final spot on the World Points list that’s used to help fill out the European team that will play next month in Paris, moving past Ian Poulter and Paul Casey. He is also less than €40,000 back of Tommy Fleetwood for the final spot in the European points list.

European captain Thomas Bjorn, a fellow Dane, is close friends with Olesen and has indicated he would prefer that his countryman qualify automatically rather than require a captain’s pick and bring their friendship into the equation. Olesen is trying to oblige, having posted a win at the Italian Open in June, a runner -up at the BMW International and four top-12 finishes in his last five starts.

“I’ve been playing great for three or four months so that will probably add a bit more pressure [on Bjorn], but if I can keep grinding and working like I did this week and last week to get better the results will come,” Olesen said.

Team Europe’s automatic picks will be decided in two weeks after the European Tour’s Made in Denmark tournament, in which Olesen is scheduled to compete. “There’s always a lot of pressure when we play in Denmark and probably a little bit extra this time,” he said.

Poulter and Casey, meanwhile, will be playing in next week’s Northern Trust, the first of the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoff events. Good performances will allow them both to also compete in the BMW Championship before European qualifying closes.

The post Thorbjorn Olesen in, Ian Poulter out in latest European Ryder Cup standings appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.