Bjorn: "I think sometimes it is forgotten how great Europe is"

The 2018 Ryder Cup is hardly a matchup of drama-prone captains, a compliment to Thomas Bjorn and Jim Furyk’s general steadiness.

Though if one lead cart driver is capable of saying something incendiary, it will be Bjorn. If you want to know more about Europe’s leader this week and his career, check out Andrew Cotter’s European Tour podcast with Bjorn.

More recently, The Guardian’s Ewan Murray sat down with Bjorn to discuss all things Ryder Cup and Bjorn did his best to try and rally his continent.

“I think sometimes what is forgotten, in the political discussion, is how great this continent is,” Bjørn says. “From all the way down in Greece, to Iceland, there are so many great countries and so much natural common ground. It is such a small continent compared to the others but together we have so much history and so many great things going for us. I think that is forgotten a little bit in the political picture.

“It means a lot more to us as golfers because we grow up with the European Tour. The backbone of that tour is still our European events. It is part of the life we live. It has a meaning.”

He also goes on to discuss several things of note, including his falling out with former Captain Ian Woosnam.

But his decision to lean toward veterans with his picks will get the most scrutiny and he’s already pushing back:

“I think you’d have found if it was old pals there would be one or two others playing,” Bjørn says. “Some of the guys left out are very close to me and I was never scared of making tough decisions. Now, if people think I made these decisions on the back of them being pals then they don’t know me very well and that’s OK. That mostly comes from people who have no idea who I am, what I think and what I believe in.”