Bjorn calls on the troops to round out his Ryder Cup team.

2018 Ryder Cup https://www.rydercup.com/team

Captain Thomas Bjorn has just announced his 4 wild card picks and if you were looking for a surprise you'll be disappointed.

When you look at the strength of the enemy, Team USA is so ridiculously loaded from world #1 Dustin Johnson all the way through US Open Champion Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, fireball Patrick Reed, down to Tiger and Phil, they are bound to be hot favourites, despite the fact they are in Paris, and haven't won abroad since 1993.

But hold on, haven't we heard that before?..

Bjorn has called in his tried and tested troops to offset the firepower he knows is coming. Sergio Garcia, Henrik Stenson, Ian Poulter and Paul Casey may not have been playing as well as say Rafa Cabrera Bello or Matt Wallace, but they have been there and done that both in winning and losing, and their talent and experience is the only way Bjorn could have gone when you look at the opposition.

Little has been said about Bjorn's assistant captains. More troops from their years of dominance. Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Graham McDowell, Paddy Harrington and Robert Karlsson are all legends of the European tour and team.

He has 5 rookies, but come on, do you consider Jon Rahm, Race to Dubai winner Tommy Fleetwood, Alex Noren, Tyrell Hatton or Thorbjorn Olesen rookies?

Now have fun picking your pairings. To help you, be assured old partners Henrik Stenson will be re-united with Justin Rose and I'll bet the Spanish flag that has been so instrumental in Europe's team history will fly again with big Jon Rahm joining his hero Sergio Garcia.

Thomas Bjorn said Sergio is the heart of the Ryder Cup team, and had similar comments about his other picks.

Henrik Stenson said it best. " This is all about having a fun week, it's all about bonding with your team mates sharing a common goal, and we've been pretty successful with that so far, and I'm pretty sure we will be again"

It's David vs Goliath again, except this time David has a whole bunch of his old friends surrounding him.

Bryan Angus