Colin Montgomerie hopes Darren Clarke’s ‘left-field’ wild card picks pay off

Ryder Cup-winning captain Colin Montgomerie is praying European successor Darren Clarke has got his wild card picks right as his team goes into the lion’s den against favourites United States at Hazeltine later this month.

Clarke, a five-time Ryder Cup player and four-time winner, was handed five rookies in his team among the nine automatic qualifiers to defend Europe’s crown for a third successive time in the biennial matchplay tussle with the Americans, starting September 30.

He used two of his three captain’s picks to bring the experienced Lee Westwood and two-time major champion Martin Kaymer, but for his third and final pick went with another rookie in Belgium’s Thomas Pieters.