European Ryder Cup Captain Jos Mar a Olaz bal selected Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and Englishman Ian Poulter with his two wild card picks to round out his 12-man European Team who will seek to retain The Ryder Cup at Medinah Country Club in Illinois next month. The selections mean Colsaerts, who won the Volvo World Match Play Championship in May, will be the only rookie on the team for just the third time in the last 30 years. Poulter, the current Australian Masters champion, will be playing in his fourth Ryder Cup after being part of the winning teams in 2004 and 2010 and on the losing side in 2008. I think every one of you pretty much guessed that Ian was going to be there, Olaz bal said during the press conference held at the Gleneagles Hotel, host venue for The 2014 Ryder Cup. He&aposs had a great Ryder Cup record. He was playing well, he had some issues early in the season. He got ill and he couldn&apost play as much as he could, but his attitude and his spirit in The Ryder Cup team has always been great. He&aposs one of those players who likes to be in that situation. I think he gets the best out of himself playing The Ryder Cup. The two times I had the opportunity to share a few moments with him at Valhalla and Celtic Manor, you didn&apost need to motivate him. Just by looking at his eyes you could see he would give everything he had during that week.” And Nicolas, obviously he&aposs a rookie. If you look at the team, he&aposs going to be the only rookie on the team. We do have an experienced team. His match play record is very good. He finished runner up last year at the World Match Play and he won this year at the World Match Play.” He&aposs had a very solid season, and on top of that, he&aposs made the extra effort trying to make the team. He really showed me that he wants to be a part of that team. Those are the reasons for me to pick him. Poulter, speaking from America, told media: I was thrilled. To get the call last night from Jos was a great moment, and I&aposm going to be thrilled to, again, pour some passion over the holes at Medinah and I&aposll try my best. Colsaerts is also the first Belgian and said the selection completed a life long dream. This has been something I&aposve wanted since I was a little kid, he said. To be part of such a big team with a captain with such great history is something I&aposm very proud of. It is also the first time Ryder Cup history that the European team has been formed with all team members in the top 35 of the Official World Rankings. US Captain Davis Love III will announce his four wild cards on September 4 in New York after the first eight members of his team were confirmed after the US PGA Championship.
Author: Golf Australia