Rob Lee says Nicolas Colsaerts' big-hitting game and desire make him an ideal Ryder Cup wildcard.
Colsaerts will make a fantastic Ryder Cup player, says Lee
Rob Lee believes Nicolas Colsaerts' big-hitting game will be ideal for next month's Ryder Cup at the Medinah course, Chicago.
Europe captain Jose Maria Olazabal named rookie Colsaerts and Ian Poulter as his wildcards for September's showdown with the United States.
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Colsaerts leads this year's Driving Statistics on Tour with an average of 317.3 yards and with Medinah weighing in at 7,658 yards in length, Lee says Europe will be grateful for the 29-year-old's power off the tee.
"Anything over 300 yards is a monster hit but if you're averaging 316 that means sometimes - with different weather conditions - you're hitting it 350," said Lee. "He does launch it a long, long way.
"Medinah's going to be over 7,600 yards long; it's a big, big golf course so don't tell me that length is going to help because the Americans are going to make the course more playable for the longer players.
"We have a bunch of long-hitters. [Lee] Westwood hits it a long way, as do [Rory] McIlroy and Colsaerts. We have enough long players in our team who can take advantage of that. I see Colsaerts turning into a fantastic Ryder Cup player. I think he'll be terrific."
Infectious
US-based Poulter has won eight of his 11 Ryder Cup matches - three in singles, two in foursomes and three in fourballs.
He was the highest points-scorer for either side when selected as a wildcard for the 2008 Ryder Cup in Valhalla and won three points out of four in Europe's Ryder Cup win at Celtic Manor two years ago.
"If you cut Ian Poulter's wrist, Ryder Cup flows out from the veins - that's almost his reason for being," said Lee. "He loves the Ryder Cup much like our captain, Jose Maria Olazabal, did and - God bless him - Seve Ballesteros did.
"Those sorts of players are very special and we've got another one who just made the team - Sergio Garcia. In Garcia and Poulter there's enough passion for 12 players, never mind just the two of them.
"That is infectious in a team environment, especially when you might get one or two that are feeling a little nervous or what might have you. It's incalculable how much it can mean to have players like Poulter and Garcia in the background come the end of the three days.
"If you win more than double you lose - as Poulter has - that's an outstanding record. There's hardly a player who can say that."
Steel
Colsaerts - who won the Volvo World Match Play in May - is the only uncapped player in Europe's side but Lee does not believe that the Belgian's lack of Ryder Cup experience in front of the partisan American home crowd places him at a serious disadvantage in comparison to his team-mates.
"If you're a Luke Donald, a Lee Westwood, a Sergio Garcia, an Ian Poulter - a seasoned Ryder Cupper, it doesn't matter," said Lee.
"It's almost like you get to Medinah and you start again because you play normal golf and then you get into that cauldron. You get there and you have to deal with it again.
"There's no sort of balm you can put over your body or force-field you can use; I don't think you can make yourself impervious to the crowd and what that's going to be like.
"It will be so heavily plus for the Americans and so - at best - demure for the Europeans that they just have to deal with it. It's part of playing an away fixture but particularly New York, Boston and this time, Chicago, you need to have all of your steel about you to get through it."
Watch Day One of the 2012 Ryder Cup live on Sky Sports HD and Sky 3D from 12.30pm on Friday, September 28.
