There are many hands to be played over the course of a Ryder Cup, and plenty of last throws of the dice too, but the wildcard selection sets the marker for a Ryder Cup captaincy more than any other move they make, and they often decide the style of the team ahead of the contest.

There is often a fine balance between an emphasis towards automatic selection, players that have earned their place through golf this year, and wildcard choices, players whose past history or immediate form make them desirable team members.

Davis Love III and his much-publicised US ‘taskforce’ team have decided to put a greater emphasis on the wildcard picks this time around, with Matt Kuchar, Rickie Fowler and JB Holmes being chosen after the BMW Championship and Ryan Moore chosen the Sunday after the Tour Championship – the PGA Tour season finale. The idea behind this was to avoid a Billy Horschel situation again.

That is, in 2014, Horschel finished 2nd, 1st, 1st in his final three PGA Tour events, winning the $10 million Fed-Ex Cup jackpot but the selection of the American Ryder Cup team weeks before meant that he did not travel to Gleneagles as the US team were soundly beaten. This time, Moore comes to Hazeltine having matched Rory McIlroy blow-for-blow at the Tour Championship after a final round 64, only to succumb to the four-time major champion at the 4th playoff hole.

However, the Ryder Cup is a different beast to the PGA Tour. Brandt Snedeker won the Fed-Ex Cup in 2012, before losing two of his three matches at Medinah, including 5&3 to Paul Lawrie in his singles match. Jim Furyk won the Fed-Ex Cup in 2010, before he halved a match and lost two of his three matches at Celtic Manor.

Europe have generally made more inspirational choices when it comes to Ryder Cup wildcards in recent years and have been a factor in helping them over the line. Who could forget Ian Poulter’s performance in 2012 as a wildcard, perhaps one of the greatest Ryder Cup performances of all-time, inspiring the ‘Miracle of Medinah’ with his 100 per cent record from four matches including a famous five-birdie finish alongside Rory McIlroy in the Saturday afternoon four-balls.

Darren Clarke himself, was another inspirational pick in 2006, chosen just six weeks after the death of his wife Heather. There was barely a dry eye in the K Club as the Northern Irishman produced a heroic display, winning all three of his matches as Europe won the Ryder Cup for a third successive time.

While Darren Clarke’s emotional energy in Ireland will be hard to match, he will be looking for similar performances from his wildcards this time – Thomas Pieters, Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke. Westwood himself was a wildcard last time around, winning two matches and in 2006, where he formed a fantastic team with the 2016 captain, winning 4 points from 5 matches. Long-hitting Thomas Pieters could well be the joker in the pack this time.