Paul Casey to represent Europe for first time in nine years

Paul Casey will represent Europe for the first time in nine years after being selected as a wildcard pick for the EurAsia Cup in Malaysia in January.

France’s Alexander Levy, who is the second wildcard pick, will join him. They will play alongside 10 other players who have qualified for the Ryder Cup style matchplay event.

The last time that Casey represented Europe was when he played on the losing Ryder Cup team at Valhalla in 2008, under Sir Nick Faldo’s captaincy.

With Thomas Bjorn stating that considering Casey for the 2018 Ryder Cup squad is a “no brainer”, it will be great to see the World No 14 teeing it up once again for Europe. It will certainly give Thomas Bjorn the opportunity to have an early look at Casey and other key players who could feature in his final squad.

Here’s the full line-up:

Europe EurAsia Cup team

Automatic qualifiers: Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Ross Fisher (Eng), Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Paul Dunne (Ire), Rafa Cabrera Bello (Spa), Bernd Wiesberger (Aut), Thomas Pieters (Bel), Alex Noren (Swe), Henrik Stenson (Swe). Wildcards: Paul Casey (Eng), Alexander Levy (Fra)

There are some obvious missings from what a final Ryder Cup team could look like, as Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, and Justin Rose won’t be playing. But it will nonetheless add a whole new level of interest to this event, which was first staged in 2014. 

The European team was selected from the leading 10 available European players from the final 2017 European Tour Race to Dubai rankings plus two captain’s picks, so it looks like Rose, Rahm and Garcia decided to give it a miss, which is a pity. But it will give Thomas Bjorn the opportunity to assess other potential squad players in a competitive match play environment.

Related:

Tommy Fleetwood world exclusive