Belgian rookie Thomas Pieters and experienced duo Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer were named by Europe captain Darren Clarke as wildcard picks Tuesday to complete his Ryder Cup team. Clarke opted for the powerful 24-year-old Pieters over Scotland's Russell Knox and England's Luke Donald, bringing to six the number of rookies in the 12-man team who will defend the trophy against the United States in Hazeltine, Minnesota. Englishman Westwood, the former world No. 1, first played in the biennial team event in 1997 and will be representing Europe for the 10th successive time. Twice major winner Kaymer of Germany has featured in the last three Ryder Cups, all won by Europe. Belgium's Pieters has produced excellent form this month. He won the Made In Denmark event, was runner-up at the Czech Masters and finished fourth in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Europe's nine automatic picks were confirmed earlier this month. Danny Willett, Chris Wood, Rafael Cabrera-Bello, Andy Sullivan and Matt Fitzpatrick will also be new to the tournament. The other automatic selections, Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Justin Rose, have all experienced the Ryder Cup before. Europe is out to win the Ryder Cup for the ninth time in 11 editions when the competition starts at Hazeltine National Golf Club on Sept. 30. American captain Davis Love will name three of his wildcard selections a week on Sunday, with his final pick not being announced until five days before the tournament begins. Davis Love says he will take a leaf out of 2008 skipper Paul Azinger's book before he announces his four wildcard picks. Azinger, the most recent US captain to achieve success against Europe, wanted his players to have "a vested interest" in their team at Valhalla eight years ago and he relied on the input of the automatic qualifiers for his wildcard selections. Love, who will choose three of his captain's picks after the BMW Championship on Sept. 11 and his final selection two weeks later after the Tour Championship, plans to follow suit for the three-day event at Hazeltine, Minnesota that starts on Sept. 30. "Paul (Azinger) has been a great help," Love said on a conference call Monday. "He was successful (in 2008). There's guys that played for him, like Phil Mickelson, that knows what went on. "That's what I did in 2012 is I went down the list with everybody that made it (as automatic qualifiers) on points and I said, ‘What do you think, who do you like, who do you think you would pair well with?' "I can't say it enough: It's their team. Golf is different than other sports. Mental side of it is huge." This will be the second time Love, 52, has led the team in the biennial event as he guided the US to a 10-6 lead heading into the final day in 2012 but lost by 14-1/2 points to 13-1/2 in what is known to European fans as the "Miracle at Medinah." Love's eight automatic qualifiers, confirmed after The Barclays ended Sunday, are: US Open champion Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Mickelson, Reed, PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker, Brooks Koepka, Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson.
