Woosnam not wild about Broadhurst choice
Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam today revealed he had already earmarked one of his wild cards, but hopes good friend Paul Broadhurst does not get the other one.
Just four weeks and five tournaments remain before the European team is finalised, although the Russian Open takes place at the same time as the USPGA championship and is unlikely to have any effect on qualifying.
Broadhurst currently lies 11th in the standings, just outside the automatic qualifying places, and has missed the cut in three of his last six events.
But the 40-year-old’s friendship with Woosnam and vice-captain Peter Baker has led many to believe he is favourite for one of the two wild cards at Woosnam’s disposal.
“It is difficult with Broady,” Woosnam admitted. “He is one of my best friends and I might get criticised if I pick him, or if I leave him out. It would be easier if he qualifies.
“The trouble is that I obviously have one person in mind already but there are a number of players who can get the last one. That could be a list of 10 people.
“It’s going to be a difficult job. Someone is going to be happy. Someone is going to be sad, but it has to be done.
“I have said that people who are in form are in with a better chance of getting a wild card. A lot will have to do with form and how I feel it is going to balance up the team as well. It won’t be (about) experience because we have a lot of young guys coming into the team who have played fantastic.”
Five of the record-breaking team from Oakland Hills are currently not in the team, with only Miguel Angel Jimenez (18th) even in the top 20.
Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are just outside the top 20, France’s Thomas Levet completely out of form and Darren Clarke almost certain not to play due to his wife’s serious illness.
Irish duo Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley are currently on course to play at the K Club, but both are vulnerable to being overtaken in ninth and 10th place respectively.
“You would want to have Irish people in the team and if those two players dropped out of the team and were next on the list, you would seriously be looking at them for picks,” added Woosnam.
“Anything can change but hopefully neither of them will drop out.
“I’ve spoken to Paul McGinley. He’s on about 1.4million points at the moment and he’ll have to get up to 1.6million or so to ensure he’s safe.
"The only way to do that is play good golf. Lee (Westwood) has been playing very good golf and Thomas Bjorn has been showing a bit of form but there is no point worrying about it. You just have to get on and do it.
“I will speak to Darren but I think he pretty much said at the Open what he was doing. If his situation is the same then obviously he is not going to play.”
The American team is finalised after next week’s USPGA championship at Medinah, and currently features four rookies – Vaughn Taylor, JJ Henry, Zach Johnson and Brett Wetterich – in the automatic qualifying positions.
“That could be an advantage. They might have a different outlook because sometimes it can get a little stale,” added Woosnam, who will name his two wild cards after the BMW International in Munich on September 3.
“With new blood in the team they might have something to prove.
“The only thing for us, as their captain Tom Lehman has said, is that these guys are great players but all their experience has been in America. They haven’t had the experience of playing around the world and we all know what the K Club could be like. It could be cold and lashing down with rain.
“Sometimes that is why you can rely on players who have played around the world and played in such conditions.”
As for the course itself, the 48-year-old Welshman added: “The fairways are going to be fairly narrow but I am not going to have this long grass around the greens. If you miss the greens it will run off to play some chip and runs.
“I’ll set it up very much like Sam (Torrance) had the course at The Belfry, which seemed to suit us.”
