Triumphant Europe skipper Thomas Bjorn hails Ryder Cup winners as 'best team room he's been in'

Sport360 staff 00:39 01/10/2018
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  • Captain Thomas Bjorn hailed the victorious European team as the best he had been involved with after they reclaimed the Ryder Cup in Paris.

    Bjorn’s team wrapped up a 17.5-10.5 victory over the United States by scoring seven-and-a-half points in Sunday’s singles session at Le Golf National.

    It was Bjorn’s eighth taste of the Ryder Cup, having previously played in the competition three times and served as a vice-captain on four occasions.

    The Dane said: “This is the best team room I’ve ever been in. It was calm, it was determined, it was focused, it was fun.

    “Everything that this Ryder Cup was is what I think the Ryder Cup should be about for a European team.

    “How do you sum that up? I felt all along that this was a good group of guys. The way they looked after each other and have been there for each other throughout the whole week made captaincy pretty easy.

    “The hardest thing about the captaincy was that there were so many guys playing well, and being in such good frame of mind, that I wanted to get everybody on the golf course, but you can’t.”

    Europe came into the final day holding a 10-6 lead and their ultimate margin of victory looked convincing, but the United States did make them battle hard.
    They claimed three points early on to move within one and, at that stage, what proved a pivotal match between Jon Rahm and Tiger Woods was in the balance.

    Bjorn said: “There was a little moment in the middle of it all where I was getting a little bit worried, but then everybody stood up and did their bit.

    “I can’t describe how I feel about these 12. They have been amazing from day one and I’m just so proud of them.”

    All 12 members of Bjorn’s team contributed at least a point over the three days.

    Bjorn said: “That doesn’t happen very often. The whole team has been part of this.

    “We worked as a team and we knew we were up against very strong opponents, but we went out on the golf course and believed in ourselves and what we stand for as a team.”

    Bjorn attracted some criticism over his wildcard selections in the build-up to the tournament after opting for experience over form in, most notably, the case of Sergio Garcia. Paul Casey, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson were his other picks.

    Bjorn said: “I’m not very good at adding up, but I’m sure if I put these numbers together, they make the difference in the score. I think I got it right and they have been fantastic.”

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