AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Oliver Wilson closed with a
final round of four-under 69 Sunday and tied for 10th place in the
European Tour’s Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles
Golf Club in Perthshire, Scotland.
With his finish, the former Augusta State standout secured a spot
on the European Ryder Cup team. The 37th Ryder Cup Matches will be
staged September 19-21 at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky.
The only three-time All-American in the history of the Jaguar
men’s golf program, Wilson has enjoyed his best season
professionally in 2008. He moved inside the top 50 in the Official
World Golf Rankings earlier in the year and currently ranks eighth
on the European Tour’s Order of Merit and 51st in the world
rankings.
In 23 events in 2008, Wilson has posted 11 top-25 finishes, 10 top
20’s and seven top 10’s, including four runnerup
efforts.
With Wilson’s qualification, Augusta State is one of five
U.S. men’s collegiate golf programs to be represented in each
of the last two Ryder Cups (Stanford – Tiger Woods, Arizona
State – Phil Mickelson and Paul Casey, Arizona -- Jim Furyk
and Georgia Tech – Stewart Cink).
Augustan Vaughn Taylor, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour and an
All-American as a senior at ASU in 1998, was a member of the 2006
U.S. Ryder Cup team that Europe defeated 18.5 to 9.5 at the K Club
in Straffan, County Kildare, Ireland.
The Ryder Cup will mark the sixth time Wilson has represented his
homeland in international competition. As a collegian, Wilson was a
member of the Great Britain & Ireland Palmer Cup teams in 2001,
2002 and 2003 and played a key role in clinching the 2003 Walker
Cup for Europe at Ganton Golf Club. As a professional in 2007,
Wilson was a part of the winning GB&I squad that defeated
continental Europe in the Seve Trophy.
Europe has won five of the last six Ryder Cup matches and will be
looking for its fourth straight victory in the matches at
Valhalla.
For more information, visit www.rydercup.com.
2008 European Ryder Cup Team
*Padraig Harrington, Ireland
*Sergio Garcia, Spain
*Lee Westwood, England
*Henrik Stenson, Sweden
*Robert Karlsson, Sweden
*Miguel Angel Jimenez, Spain
*Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland
*Justin Rose, England
*Soren Hansen, Denmark
*OLIVER WILSON, ENGLAND
!Paul Casey, England
!Ian Poulter, England
* -- denotes automatic qualifier
! – denotes captain’s pick