#360view: Europe win bodes well for Ryder Cup chances

Joy Chakravarty 17:17 17/01/2016
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  • Clarke (c) with his victorious team.

    Being a team competition, it was understandable that captain Darren Clarke did not want to single out names, but veterans Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter were the real stars during three days of battle at Glenmarie Golf & Country Club in Kuala Lumpur.

    Westwood and Poulter are two of the most successful European players in team tournaments, and Clarke picked them for a reason – to shore up a young side with some experience.

    They did exactly what was expected of them – on and off the golf course. Both remained unbeaten and ended the singles with a flourish by defeating local heroes. Poulter, given the responsibility of leading the Europeans out every day, beat Danny Chia 4&3, while Westwood was spectacular in his 7&6 thrashing of Nicholas Fung.

    Both players were also exceptional in the team room. Poulter is a match play legend and known for his passion, and a couple of speeches from him fired up the team. Westwood isn’t as comfortable playing the senior statesman, but did a brilliant job mentoring the youngsters.

    However, their form this week is going to create more headaches, rather than ease the job for captain Clarke during the Ryder Cup in September.

    It is imperative that both Westwood and Poulter build on this week’s momentum and ensure that they qualify for Europe’s Ryder Cup team on their own. Westwood is ranked 51st in the world right now, Poulter is five places below him. They need to strengthen Clarke’s position by not forcing him to base his picks on experience, but rather on form.

    The biggest gains for Europe this week is the validation that players like Matthew Fitzpatrick, Danny Willett, Andy Sullivan and Bernd Wiesberger – all of whom are yet to play in a Ryder Cup, but have the potential of becoming constant feature in the next few years – have the right attitude to strenghten Team Europe.

    A big worry is the form of Victor Dubuisson. The enigmatic Frenchman, who also seems to have put on a fair bit of weight over the Christmas period, was nowhere near his magical best and had to survive an injury scare on day one when his right knee locked up. However, this is just the start of the season and Clarke will be hopeful Dubuisson can rediscover both form and fitness.

    As for Asia, there isn’t any shame in losing to the Europeans, although a win would have been monumental. Most Asian players rarely participate in the match play format – there has been no such event on their Tour for almost a decade – and their lack of experience was showing.

    However, even if the scoreline suggested a rout, there wasn’t much to separate the two teams. The real difference was making the putts inside the five to 10-feet range. While the European players seemed to have made each of them, Asia struggled. In particular, 20-year-old Jueng-hun Wang missed more than half a dozen from inside five feet.

    It cannot be denied that the Asian players have made massive strides in recent years and this loss is no indication of the standard of the game in the continent. Just give them a few more years, and they will be up to any such tasks.

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