BELGIUM'S Thomas Pieters admitted he had given Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke a major selection headache after producing a brilliant finish to claim his third European Tour title in the Made in Denmark event.
In a final round delayed by more than four hours due to bad weather, Pieters birdied the last three holes in a closing 65 to finish 17 under par and a shot ahead of overnight leader Bradley Dredge, who birdied the last to secure his second runners-up finish of the season.
Sweden's Joakim Lagergren stood on the 18th tee in a tie for the lead with playing partner Pieters, but lost his ball after a wayward drive and the resulting triple-bogey seven dropped him into fifth place behind David Lipsky and Adrian Otaegui.
Pieters was fourth in the Olympics and second in the defence of his Czech Masters title last week to force his name into the frame for one of European captain Clarke's three wild cards.
And after carding rounds of 62 and 71 while playing alongside the Northern Irishman in the first two rounds, the 24-year-old could not have done anything more to earn his place on the team for Hazeltine next month.
Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer - who finished joint sixth at Himmerland Golf and Spa Resort - have long been favourites to secure two of the wild cards as Clarke looks for experience alongside the five rookies among the nine automatic qualifiers.
But that leaves the former Open champion with what appears to be a tough choice between Pieters and Scotland's Russell Knox, who won the WGC-HSBC Champions last November when not a European Tour member and added the Travelers Championship earlier this month.
The pair finished just 0.04 points apart in the final qualifying standings and, asked if he had given Clarke a headache, Pieters said: "I would say so. I've done all I can and we'll just wait and see."
Pieters added in his press conference: "He [Clarke] has got plenty of good players to pick from, so if he doesn't pick me, then so be it and I'll work my butt off to get there in the next one. But I've done all I can now and I'm just really pleased with this win to be honest."
Pieters was part of a four-way tie for the lead after he almost holed his tee shot to the par-three 16th and tapped in for birdie, but knew that was not likely to be enough.
"I saw I was one back walking to the green on 16 and hit a great shot there, but knew I needed at least one more," he added. "To finish with two more is pretty cool.
"I was pretty relaxed coming down the stretch, but around the middle I was having flashbacks to last week when the putts weren't dropping, so I guess I just had to hit them close. It's a great feeling."
Kaymer played the final round alongside Pieters and was quick to back the Belgian for a wild card, which Clarke will announce at Wentworth on Tuesday.
"If I would be the captain he would be my pick for sure because he brings something special to the team, he hits the ball very far, is very good in the short game and obviously proved he can play under pressure very well," Kaymer said.
As for his own prospects, the man who secured the point to retain the trophy at Medinah in 2012 added: "I think I've done as much as I can, but it would be another great experience of a golfing career to play four Ryder Cups in a row... it would be amazing."
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