The Englishman may need a wildcard pick for Team Europe
Justin Rose is currently outside of the top 125 on the FedEx Cup points list but has more than just the Playoffs on his mind right now.
The former World No.1 has played only 13 times so far in 2021 and finds himself comfortably outside of the automatic places for Padraig Harrington’s Ryder Cup team.
Rose has played in five Ryder Cups, including all of the last four, and admitted that he may well need a wildcard pick for next month’s postponed match at Whistling Straits.
The Englishman is one of the favourites for a pick, with Harrington having three wildcards at his disposal.
Rose, Poulter and Garcia are likely to be those wildcards if things stay the same, although there are no guarantees if other players show great form ahead of the picks being announced after the BMW PGA Championship.
“I think I’ve seen a lot of my contemporaries who have been in this situation and being picked, Poults and guys like that, I think it’s something that I’ve never really wanted to have in my career,” Rose said.
“You want to be able to play your way onto that team and earn your way onto that team, but I feel at this stage of my career I’d be a lot more comfortable being picked than I would be as a youngster.
“I think that’s important. For me it’s about not just playing. When you’re young, you just want to make the Ryder Cup team for the sake of playing in it and I feel like I’m at a stage in my career now where if I do play the Ryder Cup and I am picked to play in the Ryder Cup, then I need to be able to contribute points to the team.
“That’s the sole purpose of being there.
“So it leaves me in a situation where I’m just working on my game that if I do get lucky and I get a call up, that I need to be ready for it and I need to be ready to earn points.
Rose has been a stalwart of Team Europe over the past decade
“That’s all I’m focusing on. I would love to play, but I’m just trying to make sure that if I do get the opportunity, I’m ready to contribute.
“I know the situation I’m in. I need to show him [Harrington] just a little bit of form, which will make his job a little bit easier.
“There are scenarios that if certain players play great and knock certain players out, that could jeopardize a situation for me. So there’s a lot up in the air, but it’s all down to me.
“I’ve obviously put myself in this situation so I’ll accept whatever happens from this point, but I just need to prepare myself for the right kind of phone call and just make sure that if that phone call does happen, like I said, I’m ready to play.”
Related: Rickie Fowler on the brink of missing Playoffs and Ryder Cup
This article Justin Rose Opens Up On Potential Ryder Cup Wildcard Pick appeared first on Golf Monthly.