Thomas Bjorn Upset After Being Left Off European Team
Thomas Bjorn let European Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam know that he wasn’t at all happy with being left off the European Ryder Cup team. Bjorn was quoted as saying, “I feel gutted. I think he has been very poor. A friend of mine he isn’t — and I don’t have a problem saying that. He’s not taken charge of the captaincy in the way I see a captain should take charge and it’s disappointing. He’s put a lot of guys through misery by not talking to them.”
Woosnam chose Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood as his captain’s picks and though Bjorn is ranked higher than Westwood in Ryder Cup standings, Woosnam felt that Westwood’s success at the K-Club might make a difference because of his familiarity with the golf course.
Like Davis Love III and Fred Couples, Bjorn had the opportunity to play his way onto the Ryder Cup team, but couldn’t get it done when he really needed to. I’m sure that Woosnam, like Lehman, watched to see if the guys on the bubble could step up when it mattered and obviously there are some great Ryder Cup players on both teams missing this year.
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3 Comments
[...] The Thomas Bjorn saga: Thomas was not happy that Woosnam didn’t pick him to play as a wildcard selection, boo hoo. Instead of sucking it up like a man Bjorn went to the media and publicly criticised Woosnam as a captain. I understand that Bjorn would have liked to play and that he feels Woosnam could have kept him in the loop but lets face it Woosnam’s job is to win the Ryder Cup not mollycoddle every player who didn’t make the team. Next up in the saga the PGA has fined Bjorn a “significant” amount for his media outburst. Finally Bjorn has recanted and apologised unreservedly for the personal nature of the attack… Blah blah blah [...]
I agree. First and foremost, make your way onto the team via points, and if anything that happens beyond, consider it a blessing.
Thanks for the comment.
[...] On another note, Thomas Bjorn apologized for his comments about Ian Woosnam that he made yesterday about not making the European Ryder Cup team. Of course, being fined by the European Tour’s executive director might have made it a little easier. [...]