European Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance has announced that Jesper Parnevik and Sergio Garcia have been awarded his two wild-card invites to make up the team to face the Americans at The Belfry later this month. Although there was no doubt that Spanish sensation Garcia would be one of the two names confirmed by Torrance at a press conference following the completion of the BMW International in Munich this evening, there had been some speculation over whether Parnevik or another Spaniard, Jose Maria Olazabal, would take the final spot.
However, Torrance has opted for the 36-year-old Swede and it now seems likely he will partner his fellow wild-card team-member at The Belfry when the teams come face-to-face over the final weekend in September. The pair dropped only half a point from their four games together at the last Ryder Cup competition in Boston two years ago.
Torrance had already revealed he promised one of his wild cards to Sergio Garcia if the 21-year-old failed to secure automatic qualification at the BMW International. Although Garcia played extremely well over the weekend to finish seventh in Munich, he had to win the event to secure an automatic qualification spot. Olazabel would also have qualified if he had won in Munich but despite a course record-equalling 62 in the second round, he finished 13th overall.
It seems Olazabal was prepared for his fate as he refused to elaborate on the issue with the media after completing his final round except to say: "From my point of view I think I am not going to be picked." Torrance's choice will not come as much of a surprise, especially as Parnevik is ranked 21st in the world compared to Olazabal's position of 63rd.
However, the fact that he was forced to choose between two of the game's great golfers will mean that the thorny issue of Europe's selection system will once again come to the fore in the run-up to this year's event. Many of Europe's top golfers who have made it into Torrance's line-up have been critical of the present system and some have offered alternative ways of selecting the European team. But it will be of scant consolation to Olazabal who will play no part in this year's Ryder Cup.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
