Team Europe is now final after Harrington named Sergio Garcia, Shane Lowry and Ian Poulter as his three wildcards.
Padraig Harrington Announces European Wildcard Picks
Padraig Harrington’s European Ryder Cup team is finalised after the Irishman announced his three wildcard picks for Whistling Straits.
The Irishman went with experience in picking Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter, while also picking rookie Shane Lowry.
The team features three rookies, Viktor Hovland, Benrd Wiesberger and Shane Lowry, which is the same amount of rookies Team Europe had at the victorious 2014 Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
In picking Sergio Garcia, Harrington has the competition’s record points scorer on his team, with Sergio having reached the total of 25.5 points at Le Golf National in 2018.
The Spaniard will make 10th appearance for Team Europe later this month.
The ‘Postman’ Ian Poulter is another veteran who will be lining up for Europe, in what will be his seventh appearance in the Ryder Cup.
Poulter is famous for his performances in the Ryder Cup and won a vital sixth European point on day two at Medinah in 2012 to rally his team to victory.
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Joining Garcia and Poulter is Irishman Shane Lowry, who will make his Ryder Cup debut at Whistling Straits.
Lowry has spent the majority of the qualification period inside the top nine, but fell out of automatic qualification to tenth after a T20th finish at the BMW PGA Championship.
Despite this, fellow Irishman Harrington has decided to give the 2019 Open Champion the nod for his first ever Ryder Cup appearance.
Justin Rose will feel unlucky to miss out, having been part of three Ryder Cup winning teams and finishing T6th at Wentworth this week.
However after a poor season on the PGA Tour – where he failed to make the top 125 on the order of merit list – left Harrington with a tough choice.
Team Europe – Ryder Cup 2020
Jon Rahm – Second Ryder Cup appearance
Tommy Fleetwood – Second Ryder Cup appearance
Tyrrell Hatton – Second Ryder Cup appearance
Rory McIlroy – Sixth Ryder Cup appearance
Viktor Hovland – Ryder Cup rookie
Paul Casey – Fifth Ryder Cup appearance
Matt Fitzpatrick – Second Ryder Cup appearance
Lee Westwood – 11th Ryder Cup appearance
Shane Lowry – Ryder Cup rookie
Sergio Garcia – 10th Ryder Cup appearance
Ian Poulter – Seventh Ryder Cup appearance
Bernd Wiesberger – Ryder Cup rookie
Harrington’s team go up against a super-strong USA team that boasts all 12 players inside the world’s top 21.
Steve Stricker’s team does feature six rookies, however, the most of an American team since their 2008 triumph at Valhalla.
The Ryder Cup takes place from 24-26th September.
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