Thomas Pieters best rookie in history of Ryder Cup

03/10/2016

Thomas Pieters has made history once again. At the 2016 Ryder Cup, he scored four points for the European team and thus became the best rookie ever at the prestigious golf tournament.

Despite a loss in the first foursomes, Thomas Pieters made quite an impression on the international athletic world during the 2016 Ryder Cup. Alongside superstar Rory McIlroy, Pieters played a fantastic tournament. With several outstanding performances, he scored four points for the European team during his debut. No rookie in the 90-year history of the golf tournament has ever achieved that before. After Nicolas Colsaerts, Pieters was also the second Belgian golfer ever to defend the European colours against the American team.

Although the European team eventually lost by 17-11 against the United States, Thomas Pieters himself received a great deal of praise. Renowned newspapers such as the New York Times and the Guardian devoted entire pages on the Belgian player. Major American sports channel ESPN also gave Pieters the second best score of the Europeans in its report. Teammate Rory McIlroy declared that he "had found his partner for the coming twenty years" and team captain Darren Clarke called Pieters "the greatest European talent since McIlroy." For Pieters it was a great ending of a fantastic season, in which he also took fourth place at the Olympics.