By Fred Altvater
Over the last 20 years the Europeans have become the dominant force in the Ryder Cup, winning six of the last eight competitions since 2002. They have a solid formula, let the best eight sort themselves out on the World and European Points Lists. The Captain then picks the best veterans and former Ryder Cuppers from what’s left.
They don’t worry about offending a young player’s feelings. If they want to be on the team, they better make it on points, because they will not be chosen by the Captain.
The European Ryder Cup veterans have a bond, they are brothers in the fight against the ‘Evil Empire’ and will fight, for each other, to the death.
In choosing Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter, Bjorn stuck to the script with no deviation. 
Once again, a strong list of younger and possibly more talented Europeans have been left waiting in the wings. Hopefully they will use the slight to improve their games enough to make the top eight on the points list for the next Cup, in 2020 at Whistling Straits.
Bjorn’s choice of Poulter is understandable, he achieves a ‘higher consciousness’ for Ryder Cup competition, and energizes the entire team, plus he has played well over the past year. The other three choices, however, leave golf fans scratching their heads.
Perhaps the biggest slight was Matt Wallace, playing on a European Tour schedule, greatly skewed to the top stars in Europe. He was not picked over Sergio Garcia, who has done nothing, since his Masters win in 2017.
Wallace came off the Challenge Tour and has rocketed up the European Points list with three European Tour wins. In his one big appearance, he tied for 19th at the PGA Championship. If Captain Bjorn was truly looking for players in top form heading to France, he whiffed on Wallace. For the Europeans, only Francisco Molinari has played better than Wallace over the past few months.
Eddie Pepperell and Rafa Cabrera Bello, have both been playing at a very high levels this summer, but were not chosen.
Since the WGC-Bridgestone last month, Rafa Cabrera Bello has finished outside the top 25 once in five events, a T-60 at the Northern Trust, but followed that miscue with a seventh-place last week at the Dell Championship.
In that same stretch, Paul Casey, finished T-31 at Firestone, missed the cut at the PGA Championship, was T-60 at the Northern Trust and T-21 at the Dell Championship. Although a Ryder Cup veteran, Casey has not played on a European Team since 2008.
Sergio Garcia’s numbers are even worse. He missed more cuts (8), than he made (7), in 2018. He did not finish inside the Top 125 to qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs and since April has made only three cuts in 11 starts.
At least Henrik Stenson has been making cuts this year, but his lone top-five came at the WGC-HSBC nearly a year ago. His best finish this season was a fourth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March and a tie for sixth at the U.S. Open.
At the last Ryder Cup held at Hazeltine, European Captain, Darren Clarke chose his good buddy Lee Westwood over Russell Knox. Knox, born in Scotland, was playing extremely well, but was not considered one of the Euro Club, because he played too much golf in the New World.
Although Westwood had been a stalwart on those dominating European Ryder Cup teams over the last 20 years, his game had left him, but Clarke chose him anyway. Westwood rewarded him by playing in just three sessions in Minneapolis and not winning a single point.
The Euros lost in 2016, by six points, 11-17. Westwood wasn’t the only disappointment for the Europeans, but he did not help Captain Clarke.
In 1995, U.S. Ryder Cup Captain, Lanny Wadkins, chose his good friend, Curtis Strange, who was not playing well at the time. Strange did not win a single point for the American Team and they lost by a single point, 13 ½-14 ½. The media had a field day with Wadkins ill-advised choice of Strange.
Captain Bjorn has stayed with the ‘European Formula’ by picking four older, more experienced Ryder Cuppers, who are all part of the club. Stenson, Casey and Sergio hopefully will improve their games for the team, but if recent past performance is an indicator, they probably won’t.
With the success the Europeans have had over the past 20 years, it is hard to criticize their methods, but with depth and current strong play of the current American team, it is difficult to see the Europeans winning in 2018, even with the Ryder Cup being contested on European soil.
As any amateur golfer knows, many a wager is won on the first tee.
Bjorn is betting on four veterans and he may have given the Americans a huge advantage, before the first tee shot has even been struck.
