If we needed a reminder that the 2014 Ryder Cup is sneaking up on us, it came today as Team Europe captain Paul McGinley revealed his wild card picks.
Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Stephen Gallacher made the cut, while former World No 1 Luke Donald was left out.
We were joined on the line by European vice-captain Des Smyth, who provided a "sounding board" for McGinley, to run the rule over the selections for the tournament which gets underway at the end of this month.
A few challengers fell by the wayside along the way according to Smyth leaving a core cohort of candidates.
"There were still a few others in the mix. I mean Francesco Molinari was still there , Luke Donald was still there so it wasn't that easy in the end," said Smyth, who then explained why Donald was omitted.
"Luke would have been an obvious choice but he's changed his swing, he's not getting results and he's had a poor last four months. His form just wasn't up to it and that's what made our mind up."
Smyth praised Gallacher and admitted that it was a boost to have a Scot at Gleneagles.
He also played down the risk of having so many rookies within the team in Gallacher, Victor Dubuisson and Jamie Donaldson, as the experience of the other players will help them along.
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