European captain Padraig Harrington admitted it was “incredibly difficult” to leave Justin Rose out of his side after naming Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Shane Lowry as his Ryder Cup wild cards.
Bernd Wiesberger’s tie for 20th in the BMW PGA Championship saw him secure a debut at Whistling Straits at the end of the month, knocking Lowry out of the side.
Lowry could have replaced Lee Westwood with a top-eight finish and began the day in a tie for seventh, but slipped down the leaderboard with a final round of 71.
SHANE LOWRY 🇮🇪 The Irishman will be making his #TeamEurope debut at Whistling Straits. pic.twitter.com/sco5jZ7Ta4 — Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 12, 2021
Westwood therefore qualified for a record-equalling 11th appearance in the biennial contest despite a closing 77, the 48-year-old joining Wiesberger, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Paul Casey, Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Tommy Fleetwood and Viktor Hovland in the team.
Rose eagled the 18th in a final round of 65 to finish in a tie for sixth, but that was not enough.
“It was incredibly difficult with JR,” Harrington said. “Clearly he was in contention in his last two events.
IAN POULTER 🏴 The Postman is heading to Whistling Straits for his 7th #TeamEurope appearance. pic.twitter.com/UuYjMcm0rz — Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 12, 2021
“Did I need more? Maybe not but the fact of the matter is, with who he was going up against, the consistency of Shane Lowry, what Ian and Shane have brought over the years, somebody had to lose out.
“It really is as close as that. Alex Noren as well playing fantastic golf.
“If you don’t play your way in it’s a tough place to be. It easily could have been JR or Alex Noren. It was so tight at the end of the day and we just went with the passion… the core, the heart of the team has been Ian and Sergio over the years, the consistency of Shane under pressure and under stress.
“JR did deliver this week, it was just a step too far.”
Speaking before the announcement was made, Rose said: “It would be disappointing. You reflect on why. Is there something bigger at play because on the surface I feel pretty confident.
SERGIO GARCIA 🇪🇸 Our all-time leading points scorer gets the nod from the Captain.#TeamEurope pic.twitter.com/0UPvrxubqU — Ryder Cup Europe (@RyderCupEurope) September 12, 2021
“I think it will be hard for him not to pick me but I had that with Monty (Colin Montgomerie in 2010), as well, and went a different way.
“Who knows what the bigger plan is, and if he (Harrington) has a bigger plan, 100 per cent good luck to the boys and I’ll be cheering as the rest of you will.
“From my point of view, you can only blame yourself if you don’t get in and don’t get picked, because obviously I’ve never had a pick for the Ryder Cup.
“I’ve always played my way on to the team which is what the goal always is to do. If you leave it into someone else’s hands, you know, we’ll see, but if I don’t get picked, good luck to the lads.”
