Thomas Bjorn turns focus to Ryder Cup 2018 qualifying battle

2018 European Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn says there are plenty of talented players ready to fight for a place on his team alongside more experienced names. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

From the D+D REAL Czech Masters, which gets the qualifying campaign underway today at Albatross Golf Resort in Prague, through until next year’s Made in Denmark, the final counting event, at his home course of Silkeborg Ry Golfklub, the 46-year-old will have statistics coming out of his ears.

Make no mistake, it’s an all-consuming job and, based on how the likes of Colin Montgomerie, Paul McGinley and Darren Clarke performed on the golf course when they held the same position, then don’t waste your money placing wagers on Bjorn over the next year or so.

The Great Dane won’t mind that sacrifice, though, if his side gets Europe back to winning ways in the transatlantic tussle after last year’s defeat at Hazeltine, where the United States thoroughly deserved to come out on top for the first time in four matches with a comprehensive 17-11 victory.

Paul McGinley coming back for a second stint in charge would probably have provided the Europeans with their best chance of recapturing one of the most coveted trophies in sport, but it’s easy to see why Bjorn was the sensible choice when that wasn’t going to materialise. He’s played on three winning Ryder Cup teams, including the 2014 match under McGinley at Gleneagles, and, just like the Irishman, is fiercely proud of the European Tour, having earned enormous respect from his peers as the tournament committee chairman, a role he has now handed over to David Howell.

Eight players will once again qualify automatically - four players from a European points list, followed by the leading four players from a World points list – with Bjorn completing the side with four wild-card selections. As part of changes announced earlier this year, there will be a greater weighting for points earned in tournaments in the latter stages of this qualification process to help ensure the team reflects those players in form.

“So far there has been a lot of planning,” said the event’s first Scandinavian skipper. “But from now on it is going to be a lot more concrete as you start to see who is playing well and who isn’t and all my focus turns to the 12 who are going to play, which is by far the most important thing. I am not worried because I see so much great talent out there and there are still those guys who have lots of experience, too.”

So, how many of those spots are realistically up for grabs? By my reckoning, just five because Europe will have little chance of injecting some ooh la la into the event’s next instalment if that side doesn’t include Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Sergio  Garcia, Justin Rose, Thomas Pieters, Jon Rahm and Tommy Fleetwood.

On the back of his spectacular rise up the world rankings over the past year or so, Rahm, pictured, is a certainty to provide at least one rookie in the home ranks, with Fleetwood a good bet to be another newcomer based on some of the big peformances he’s delivered this season.

Pieters, of course, was a revelation on his debut in Minnesota, setting a new European record as a first-timer with four wins, and, if the Belgian doesn’t make it under his own steam, then he is surely going to be a strong contender for one of Bjorn’s picks, provided, of course, that he is playing well in a year’s time.

Back in the world’s top 20, Francesco Molinari would be a useful man to have in a side trying to stop Jim Furyk from taking up where Davis Love left off as he galvanised the Americans last time around, as would Alex Noren and Rafa Cabrera Bello, the last two Scottish Open champions. Cabrera Bello gave a good account of himself at Hazeltine and the more tried and tested the better for this particular task, I’d say.

The last match looked one too many for Lee Westwood and perhaps Martin Kaymer, too, meaning Bjorn should probably be hoping the likes of Shane Lowry, Matt Fitzpatrick, Chris Wood, Andy Sullivan, Tyrrell Hatton, Bernd Wiesberger and, of course, Russell Knox are the players pushing really hard to get on that team.

Then, of course, there’s the resurgent Ian Poulter. A vice captain just under a year ago, Bjorn would surely be happy to have the Englishman, if still on form, back playing on his favourite stage in the game.