Elliot Cutter
The 2012 Ryder Cup - Team Europe
24/09/2012
The 2012 Ryder Cup begins on the 28th of September. This year it comes from across the pond, Illinois and will be played at the Medinah Country Club.
Jose Maria Olazabal has been awarded the captaincy for Team Europe this year, he picked Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, Northern Irishman Darren Clarke, Spain’s Miguel Angel Jimenez and Irishman Paul McGinley. All vice captains have been involved in 20 Ryder Cups in total, a massive amount of experience to take into this year’s tournament.
World Number One, Rory McIlroy heads the European defence of the title this year and at the age of 23, what an honour it must be for the man from Holywood, Northern Ireland. His career achievements cannot be argued against, winning the US Open and the US PGA Championships amongst many others.
Englishman, Lee Westwood, Luke Donald, Justin Rose and Ian Poulter have been chosen by Olazabal. 39 year old Westwood has competed in 7 previous Ryder Cups, having won 5 of them and has only lost 11 from the 33 matches he has played in the Ryder Cup in total.
Luke Donald has enjoyed a great rise in form over the past years, becoming world number one for a period of time and has won all three of the tournaments he has played in.
Justin Rose may well be a controversial pick, having played inconsistently all season but the 2007 European Tour Order of Merit Winner has made it into this year’s squad.
Colourful Ian Poulter always seems to play well in the big tournaments and is preparing for his fourth Ryder Cup appearance at the age of 36.
The only Scottish golfer in the 2012 squad is veteran Paul Lawrie who, at the age of 43, will be involved in his first Ryder Cup since 1999. Recently he has won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles and the Qatar Masters to cement his place in the team.
The second Northern Irishman in the European Team this year is Graeme McDowell, having twice competed in the Ryder Cup, he sank the putt to win the 2010 event for Team Europe. The 2010 US Open Champion will be looking to repeat his heroics of 2010 which saw him create a successful partnership with countryman Rory McIlroy.
The Europeans in the team include Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts, Spaniard Sergio Garcia, Sweden’s Peter Hanson, Martin Kaymer from Germany and Francesco Molinari representing Italy. All of whom have achieved several victories in the European Tour and will be looking to replicate the feat of the 2010 Team.
Olazabal will be hoping to guide the team to success and with this squad, it shouldn’t be too hard to do so. We shall see how it all unfolds on the 28th of September.
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