With today's announcement that Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts are to get the two wildcard slots for the European Ryder Cup team, the complete line-up is now known for the side that will take on their American counterparts.
The action is little over a month away from starting on the 28th September in Medinah,Chicago.
Here I'll take a look at those 12 men captain Jose Maria Olazabal will be hoping can keep the Ryder Cup on European soil for another two years.
Rory McIlroy: The only European to currently hold a Major title after winning the PGA championship by an incredible eight shots a fortnight ago.
McIlroy suffered a mid-season wobble when he failed to challenge at either the US Open or The Open, but showed his quality at the PGA.
In my opinion, the Northern Irishman is far and away the best golfer in the world when at the top of his game.
Having performed well at the 2010 Ryder Cup, he will be one of Team Europe's key men.
Graeme McDowell: Expect McDowell or G-Mac as he is affectionately known to be paired up with McIlroy, his fellow countryman over the first two days of competition.
McDowell has been tremendous this year in the Majors, finishing no worse than 12th place across all four, whilst coming so close to winning a second US Open at the Olympic Club in June.
He was of course the man who holed the winning putt at Celtic Manor in 2010. I wonder what price there is on him doing so again?
Ian Poulter: The Englishman will be one of Europe's talismen in Chicago in what will be his fourth Ryder Cup appearance.
His passion for the Ryder Cup holds no bounds and having contributed three points out of a possible four last time out and four out of five in 2008, his record is extremely enviable.
With top ten finishes at both the PGA and The Open, Poulter is bang in form and it would have been ridiculous if he was left out of the side.
Lee Westwood: Current World Number Four Westwood will be the most experienced member of Team Europe in a month's time, with this years event marking his eight straight appearance in the team.
There can be no doubting Westwood's talents despite the fact he's still to win a Major.
He's one of the world's best from tee to green but it's often the putter that lets him down.
He is also badly out of form having missed the cut at the PGA championship but I expect him to revel in his position as Europe's leader on the course.
Paul Lawrie: The oldest member of the European team as well as being the only Scot to make it to Chicago.
Yesterday he won the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles which was a welcome return to form in a season which has seen the 1999 Open champion enjoy a superb comeback.
It might be 13 years since Lawrie last played in the Ryder Cup, but he has been around for too long to late that faze him too much.
He's a real steady influence to have in the dressing room over the weekend.
Luke Donald: The world number two has never lost a Ryder Cup having been victorious in 2004,2006 and 2010.
Donald's remarkable putting will be such an asset to the Europeans and could well dig out a few more points than expected over the three days.
Whilst another Major has passed Donald by this season, he has been in fine form all year and at The Barclays last night finished in a tie for 10th.
He also finished in the top five at The Open as well as winning the Transitions championship in March and finishing sixth at the Players Championship.
A partnership with fellow Englishman Westwood could and should prove very fruitful.
Justin Rose: The Englishman is the most under-rated golfer in the world. For someone ranked eighth in the world and somebody who has performed well most weeks this season, he doesn't get enough praise.
A superb win at the World Golf Championship Cadillac event in March has been followed up with top 10s at the Masters and the PGA championship.
He also has top 10s at the Bridgestone Invitational, the BMW Championship and French Open to speak of, leaving him second in the European Tour's Race To Dubai.
Rose formed a superb partnership with Poulter two years ago and is widely expected to do so again.
Sergio Garcia: What a delight it is to see the Spaniard make the team. Whilst his presence was a brilliant inspiration to Europe in 2010, it should have been as a player, not as a vice-captain.
The way he won in America last week was superb to watch and he followed it up last night with a tied third finish at the Barclays.
He will be absolutely fired up to play by his countryman Olazabal and I fancy him to be Team Europe's top point scorer over the weekend.
His likeability is so wide-ranging that he could form a successful partnership with any other team member.
Francesco Molinari: The Italian is one of the best ball-strikers in the game, something which will come in handy on the lengthy Medinah course.
He might not be able to call on his brother Eduardo for support this time, but the Italian will be perfectly fine if his 2012 form is anything to go by.
He is coming into form nicely with a sixth place finish at Gleneagles this week, which followed up second place finishes at the French and Scottish Opens in July.
He might be used more sparingly by Olazabal compared to others but there can be no doubting his passion will be to the fore when he is called upon.
Peter Hanson: If Rose is the most under-rated golfer in the world then Hanson isn't far behind him.
The Swede has been magnificent this season and after helping the Europeans to victory last time out, he will be chomping at the bit to do so again.
He led the Masters going into the final round in April, before finishing a creditable third, which followed up previous top fives at the Cadillac championship and the Qatar Masters.
Most recently he finished seventh at the PGA Championship which once again showed Hanson is more than capable of dealing with American courses.
Martin Kaymer: Europe's weakest player and he gets that 'award' by quite some distance.
It is utterly remarkable to think that the German can now be viewed as a poor player having held the World Number One ranking for eight weeks during 2011.
In 2010, he was one of Europe's key players going into the Ryder Cup having just won his first major title at the PGA Championship.
Now there is talk of him only being played in the singles given how bad his form is.
He had a reasonable start to 2012 with top 15 finishes in Qatar and Dubai but since then he has only mustered one top ten finish which was way back in April at Malaysia.
Kaymer has been nowhere near to challenging at any of the Majors and most recently shot two dismal rounds of 79 in missing the cut at the PGA Championship.
A real worry for Jose Maria Olazabal ahead of the 28th September.
Nicolas Colsaerts: The only rookie on the European Ryder Cup team also makes history by becoming the first Belgian golfer to represent Europe in the event.
Getting the nod ahead of Padraig Harrington, Colsaerts selection will inevitably come under scrutiny.
So why has he been chosen? Well his ball striking is absolutely fantastic and whenever I've seen him recently he looks absolutely fearless.
He also just happened to win the Volvo Matchplay Championship in May, which is quite a handy thing to be good at in the Ryder Cup.
With a top ten finish at the Open under his belt as well as finishing tied 7th last week at the Wyndham Championship, the Belgian is more than worthy of his pick.
The twelve men that have made it onto Team Europe represent a very strong line-up indeed.
But with America boasting a host of top stars themselves who are keen to get the trophy back, all of the dozen players will need to be at their very best over the Atlantic.
I can hardly wait.
Monday 27 August 2012
Monday 13 August 2012
A Triumph Beyond Belief: My Favourite London 2012 Moments
With the London Olympics coming to a spectacular end last night, this blog is going to take a look back at my favourite moments of London 2012.
On the final day of competition, Samantha Murray completed the Team GB medal tally with a silver in the modern pentathlon.
That second place took Team GB's overall number of medals won to an astonishing 65- a mammoth eighteen ahead of the medal target ahead of the games.
Of course, this Olympics hasn't all been about Team GB. There have been endless World Records broken and I have watched numerous sports I wouldn't even have given an afterthought to outwith the Olympics.
Those two statements above are what the Olympics are all about. Athletes striving for greatness by pushing themselves to the absolute limit whilst thrilling us couch-potato's at the same time.
With that in mind, I present to you my top five moments of London 2012, in reverse order.
5: David Rudisha Breaks 800m World Record- 09/08/12
Although it would be fair to say that Usain Bolt's exploits on Thursday night in the same stadium overshadowed Rudisha's remarkable run, the Kenyan's world record breaking performance has every right to be in this top five.
By running a time of 1:40:91, he blew away the field to such an extent that everyone else in the field either ran a new personal best or seasonal best.
Britain's Andrew Osagie may have finished last in a time of 1:43:77 but he shouldn't be disheartened with his efforts.
His time would have won the 800m gold in the last three Olympic games- but noone had sent that memo to Rudisha.
From the word go, he treated the race like a sprint which was absolutely incredible to watch.
The 24 year-old never let up at one point in the race and to finally see someone go under 1:41 for 800m was breathtaking to watch.
The great thing is that Rudisha promises to get even better.
4: Jessica Ennis Wins The Heptathlon- 04/08/12
It says something about how good London 2012 was when Ennis's magnificent win in the Heptathlon only comes fourth in my list.
That doesn't take any of the shine off her achievement though and especially the manner in which she got the gold.
Ennis was the Team GB poster girl before the games began. The pressure on her to deliver was absolutely enormous.
But she dealt with it beautifully. From her incredible start in the 100m hurdles when she set a new heptathlon record to the finale when she won the 800m on a 'Super Saturday' for Team GB, Ennis was a joy to watch.
Ennis strove to do her best in each event and her performances in the long jump and javelin, in which she has notoriously struggled in the past were excellent.
Ennis's performance will be remembered for a long time.
3: Usain Bolt cements his legendary status- 05/08/12-11/08-12
When Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt burst on the scene at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, I was blown away.
His world record performances in the 100 and 200m races to winning gold in both were mesmerising to watch. A new charismatic superstar had been born.
However, like many others I was concerned about Bolt before the games. Yohan Blake, his training partner had been beating him in trials and he didn't seem to be fully fit.
I shouldn't have worried. From he moment he jogged to 9.87 in the 100m semi-final, there was an air of inevitability about it.
That didn't make it any less thrilling to watch though. The 100m final was billed as the fastest ever. How appropriate then that Bolt should run a time of 9.63- breaking his own Olympic record in the process.
The 200m was billed as "Bolt V Blake Round 2". And once again Usain shut up his critics. He even had time to slowdown and still record a time of 19.32 to complete a historic back-to back wins in the 100 and 200m.
But he wasn't finished there. On Saturday as part of the Jamaican 4x100m team, he ensured a new world record of 36.84 was set as he ran the last leg in an astonishing 8.8 seconds.
This Olympics ensured that Usain Bolt is a legend and it really is a privilege to watch him race.
2. Sir Chris Hoy Becomes Britain's Greatest Ever Olympian- 07/08/12
Just missing out on the top spot, is the incredible achievements by Sir Chris Hoy in the velodrome.
It's almost become second nature that the Scot will win gold after gold at the Olympic games.
And in front of his home crowd he didn't disappoint.
On 7 August, he won the men's Keirin to overtake Sir Steve Redgrave as Britain's most successful Olympian ever, a record that many thought would never be beaten.
Hoy's speed, strength and determination are marvellous to watch. He never gives up in any race, which is a quality that I love to see in any athlete in any sport.
I found myself once again yelling at the television screaming him over the line. He has that passion to bring out similar levels of passion in viewers such as myself.
Hoy's achievements over the last four Olympic games are remarkable.
Here's hoping he can crown his career in style at Glasgow 2014.
1. Mo Farah does the long-distance double- 04/08/12+11/08/12
Everyone do the Mo-Bot. My favourite moment of London 2012 simply has to be Mo Farah's incredible double gold in the 10,000m and 5,000m on successive Saturday nights in the Olympic stadium.
Farah's tactics in both races were absolutely spot on.
Often in the Olympics I find these long-distance races extremely boring until the closing stages but Farah changed all that.
His first gold in the 10,000m was show of brilliant endurance and remarkable intelligence.
By going to Africa to study his rivals training regimes, he was able to time his attacks to perfection and his reaction when crossing the line just endeared me to him even more with his fantastic Mo-bot celebration.
A week later he was at it again. And the 5,000m gold that he won was even more enthralling.
Personally I only watched the race on Sunday morning having been out on Saturday night.
Despite knowing Farah won I found myself jumping off my couch screaming him onto victory. It was that good to watch.
The atmosphere sounded electric and I felt so proud as I'm sure everyone inside that stadium did too when Farah crossed the line for an amazing double win.
His charisma, his physical feat of endurance and all round likeability make Mo Farah my moment of London 2012.
Overall I rate London as the best Olympic games of my lifetime. With Team GB surpassing all expectations, there was so many home successes to enjoy. Coupled with global stars such as Usain Bolt and David Rudisha, London 2012 saw athletes bring their A game to the games.
Rio 2016 sure has a lot to live up to. I can't wait.
On the final day of competition, Samantha Murray completed the Team GB medal tally with a silver in the modern pentathlon.
That second place took Team GB's overall number of medals won to an astonishing 65- a mammoth eighteen ahead of the medal target ahead of the games.
Of course, this Olympics hasn't all been about Team GB. There have been endless World Records broken and I have watched numerous sports I wouldn't even have given an afterthought to outwith the Olympics.
Those two statements above are what the Olympics are all about. Athletes striving for greatness by pushing themselves to the absolute limit whilst thrilling us couch-potato's at the same time.
With that in mind, I present to you my top five moments of London 2012, in reverse order.
5: David Rudisha Breaks 800m World Record- 09/08/12
Although it would be fair to say that Usain Bolt's exploits on Thursday night in the same stadium overshadowed Rudisha's remarkable run, the Kenyan's world record breaking performance has every right to be in this top five.
By running a time of 1:40:91, he blew away the field to such an extent that everyone else in the field either ran a new personal best or seasonal best.
Britain's Andrew Osagie may have finished last in a time of 1:43:77 but he shouldn't be disheartened with his efforts.
His time would have won the 800m gold in the last three Olympic games- but noone had sent that memo to Rudisha.
From the word go, he treated the race like a sprint which was absolutely incredible to watch.
The 24 year-old never let up at one point in the race and to finally see someone go under 1:41 for 800m was breathtaking to watch.
The great thing is that Rudisha promises to get even better.
4: Jessica Ennis Wins The Heptathlon- 04/08/12
It says something about how good London 2012 was when Ennis's magnificent win in the Heptathlon only comes fourth in my list.
That doesn't take any of the shine off her achievement though and especially the manner in which she got the gold.
Ennis was the Team GB poster girl before the games began. The pressure on her to deliver was absolutely enormous.
But she dealt with it beautifully. From her incredible start in the 100m hurdles when she set a new heptathlon record to the finale when she won the 800m on a 'Super Saturday' for Team GB, Ennis was a joy to watch.
Ennis strove to do her best in each event and her performances in the long jump and javelin, in which she has notoriously struggled in the past were excellent.
Ennis's performance will be remembered for a long time.
3: Usain Bolt cements his legendary status- 05/08/12-11/08-12
When Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt burst on the scene at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, I was blown away.
His world record performances in the 100 and 200m races to winning gold in both were mesmerising to watch. A new charismatic superstar had been born.
However, like many others I was concerned about Bolt before the games. Yohan Blake, his training partner had been beating him in trials and he didn't seem to be fully fit.
I shouldn't have worried. From he moment he jogged to 9.87 in the 100m semi-final, there was an air of inevitability about it.
That didn't make it any less thrilling to watch though. The 100m final was billed as the fastest ever. How appropriate then that Bolt should run a time of 9.63- breaking his own Olympic record in the process.
The 200m was billed as "Bolt V Blake Round 2". And once again Usain shut up his critics. He even had time to slowdown and still record a time of 19.32 to complete a historic back-to back wins in the 100 and 200m.
But he wasn't finished there. On Saturday as part of the Jamaican 4x100m team, he ensured a new world record of 36.84 was set as he ran the last leg in an astonishing 8.8 seconds.
This Olympics ensured that Usain Bolt is a legend and it really is a privilege to watch him race.
2. Sir Chris Hoy Becomes Britain's Greatest Ever Olympian- 07/08/12
Just missing out on the top spot, is the incredible achievements by Sir Chris Hoy in the velodrome.
It's almost become second nature that the Scot will win gold after gold at the Olympic games.
And in front of his home crowd he didn't disappoint.
On 7 August, he won the men's Keirin to overtake Sir Steve Redgrave as Britain's most successful Olympian ever, a record that many thought would never be beaten.
Hoy's speed, strength and determination are marvellous to watch. He never gives up in any race, which is a quality that I love to see in any athlete in any sport.
I found myself once again yelling at the television screaming him over the line. He has that passion to bring out similar levels of passion in viewers such as myself.
Hoy's achievements over the last four Olympic games are remarkable.
Here's hoping he can crown his career in style at Glasgow 2014.
1. Mo Farah does the long-distance double- 04/08/12+11/08/12
Everyone do the Mo-Bot. My favourite moment of London 2012 simply has to be Mo Farah's incredible double gold in the 10,000m and 5,000m on successive Saturday nights in the Olympic stadium.
Farah's tactics in both races were absolutely spot on.
Often in the Olympics I find these long-distance races extremely boring until the closing stages but Farah changed all that.
His first gold in the 10,000m was show of brilliant endurance and remarkable intelligence.
By going to Africa to study his rivals training regimes, he was able to time his attacks to perfection and his reaction when crossing the line just endeared me to him even more with his fantastic Mo-bot celebration.
A week later he was at it again. And the 5,000m gold that he won was even more enthralling.
Personally I only watched the race on Sunday morning having been out on Saturday night.
Despite knowing Farah won I found myself jumping off my couch screaming him onto victory. It was that good to watch.
The atmosphere sounded electric and I felt so proud as I'm sure everyone inside that stadium did too when Farah crossed the line for an amazing double win.
His charisma, his physical feat of endurance and all round likeability make Mo Farah my moment of London 2012.
Overall I rate London as the best Olympic games of my lifetime. With Team GB surpassing all expectations, there was so many home successes to enjoy. Coupled with global stars such as Usain Bolt and David Rudisha, London 2012 saw athletes bring their A game to the games.
Rio 2016 sure has a lot to live up to. I can't wait.
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