Westwood, Kaymer and Pieters selected as Europe’s Ryder Cup wild cards

Darren Clarke has confirmed Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer and Thomas Pieters as his wildcard picks for the 2016 Ryder Cup.

Pieters becomes the sixth rookie in the team after a great run of form in recent weeks while Westwood will make his 10th consecutive appearance in next month’s contest at Hazeltine and Kaymer earns his fourth cap.

Clarke said: “To get it down to those three has certainly be very difficult. As I’ve spoken all along with the qualification process and how the team was shaping up, I was going to look towards experience and in Lee and Martin I have two former world number ones.”

Speaking about his decision to include Pietres, the Europe Captain said: “He is a very gifted young man, but also a very funny young man.

“He didn’t hole anything for it. Normally when someone shoots a really low number, they hole a couple of 30 footers or they chip it in.

“He made the game look ridiculously easy. He has the talent to go all the way to the top of the world in my belief.

“He just sent me a message before we went on air, saying: ‘Testing, testing, is your phone off?’ That’s why I was laughing. I am delighted to have him part of the team.”