Bjorn blast will unite us: Woosie

FEARS that Thomas Bjorn’s outburst against captain Ian Woosnam’s decision not to give him a “wild card” selection and an undercurrent of disharmony between Colin Montgomerie and Jose-Maria Olazabal would affect Europe’s preparation for the Ryder Cup look unfounded.

Not to be outdone by the presence of the American team and their caddies at The K-Club a couple of weeks ago, five members of the European side turned up along with their captain yesterday to reacquaint themselves with the Palmer Course even though they have all played there regularly over the years in the Smurfit European Open.

Woosnam was airing the view that, far from the team being adversely affected by what Bjorn had to say, they would instead come together and bond to an even greater extent than had the Dane kept his silence.

Unlike the Americans, who let it be known well in advance that they were arriving in force to play The K-Club, yesterday’s quintet of Europeans had hoped to stay below the radar and come and go without any fanfare.

It didn’t quite work out that way, though, for Padraig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Paul Casey, Luke Donald and Jose-Maria Olazabal who were joined on the course by Woosnam’s two vice-captains, Des Smyth and Peter Baker. Clarke’s involvement was the most reassuring aspect of the exercise given that he is still in mourning after the passing of his wife Heather on August 13. He hasn’t played a tournament since missing the cut in the Open Championship at Hoylake in mid-July, but reassured Woosnam last week that he was available for the Ryder Cup, that he was practising at Queenwood near his home in Surrey and that he would return to action in next week’s Madrid Open.

While there remains a question about his emotional state of mind going into such a massive event as the Ryder Cup, Clarke’s game seems as good as ever and he thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with his peers yesterday.

European Tour chief executive George O’Grady on Tuesday fined Thomas Bjorn e10,000 for his regrettable remarks and stated the matter was closed. Bjorn had labelled Woosnam’s captaincy as “pathetic” and said he was “barmy” after he was overlooked for one of the two wild cards. Bjorn has since apologised and Woosnam was also in conciliatory frame of mind yesterday.

“What has happened will only make us stronger,” he insisted. “It will make Lee more determined and Darren more determined. They’re all professionals and once we get to the Ryder Cup, these things will be put to bed.”

Bjorn hinted that stories about Woosnam’s alleged poor leadership qualities will start to emerge and his and other remarks led to questions being raised about Woosnam’s perceived lack of communication with the players and his handling of the media.

Woosnam’s performance has certainly been overshadowed by the stylish manner in which his American counterpart, Tom Lehman, has handled the task. And he admits he wasn’t at his best during Sunday’s press conference.

“I was very nervous sitting there and I might not have come over very well,” he said. “Deep down I was upset because I had to leave someone out and I knew it was going to hurt Thomas and I knew I was going to get some criticism.

“Thomas had the right to say what he did about why he missed it.” In truth, though, the Dane’s words and their timing were appalling and that’s why he was handed such a hefty fine by the Tour.

Woosnam added: “It’s a pity he had to do it like that. But he’s apologised and the next thing we’ve got to do is get on, go back to Ireland and win the trophy. I don’t think I have to justify my position to anybody. There are ten automatic spots and they were filled and I had to make the next two choices. I could have gone from the next person down to 50th in the Order of Merit, but I made my choices and that’s the captain’s privilege. It was a difficult decision but there were a lot of people in the frame and I went with Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood.”