That time Thomas Bjorn didn’t get picked for the Ryder Cup…

This time tomorrow, we’ll know which four players Thomas Bjorn has chosen to complete his European team for this month’s Ryder Cup. 

If convention wisdom holds true, Bjorn will contact all of the players in with a realistic chance of earning one of his four picks before announcing the news on Sky Sports Golf at 2pm on Wednesday.

Three times a player in the event, Bjorn knows what it’s like to hope that you’ll be picked – and, equally, knows the disappointment of missing out.

The Dane was overlooked by Ian Woosnam in favour of Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood back in 2006, having narrowly missed out on qualifying automatically for the side.

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How did he take the news? Not well. 

Not well at all.

“I haven’t heard a word off him for half a year, and I’ve spoken to several players who are on the team, and have been for a long time, and they haven’t either,” said Bjorn at the time. “What sort of captaincy is that? I have lost all respect for him. 

“My relationship with him is completely dead and will remain so. This will be the first time I don’t even watch the Ryder Cup on television, and you don’t know how sad that is, given how much I care for that tournament. 

“I desperately want the 12 players to be a success, but I want them to do it in spite of the captain.”

He added: “If the decision was based on competitive results, then I could go along with it. But it seems there’s other reasons. He’s based his decision on results which happened five years ago.”

Bjorn apologised the very next day for his “hurtful and personal” remarks and, in the event, Europe thumped the US 18½-9½ at The K Club to win for the third match in a row.

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Over the next 24 hours, the Dane will be the one delivering the news rather than receiving it. One wonders how loudly his own words from 12 years ago will ring in his ears as he weighs up his options.

He’s in a truly unenviable position: he has players in form with little experience and others with experience but little form. The decisions promise to be as difficult as his justifications for them will be fascinating.