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In contrast to Tuesday’s announcement of the first three captain’s picks for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, there was far more suspense heading into the reveal of Europe’s four wildcards picks on Wednesday. With a handful of choices available, Thomas Bjorn ultimately leaned on experience, taking Ryder Cup veterans Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson, Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey, who combine for 20 previous Ryder Cup starts.

The foursome joins automatic qualifiers Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Jon Rahm and Justin Rose on the 12-player squad that will compete later this month at Le Golf National, five of whom will be making their Ryder Cup debuts. The group will try to avoid a second-straight defeat to the Americans, something the Euros have not suffered in 25 years.

Among the odd players out: Thomas Pieters, one of the few European bright lights from the 2016 loss at Hazeltine National; Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Matt Fitzpatrick, two others who competed in 2016; Eddie Pepperell; and Matt Wallace, who made an 11th-hour bid for himself with a victory at last week’s Made in Denmark, his third European Tour win in 2018.

Indeed, the race to make Bjorn’s squad had gotten tighter in recent weeks, with several players making their cases. The solid late play of Olesen, who grabbed the final automatic spot this past weekend, meant Poulter and Casey, next in line for qualifying, would now need to rely on a captain’s pick.

It put Bjorn in a tricky situation since he already knew that to get Stenson and Garcia on the squad, he would be burning two of his four selections. Both are major champions and while they each had issues in 2018—injury for Stenson and inconsistent play for Garcia—Bjorn decided it was asking to leave them off the team with their combined 12 previous appearances.

Ultimately, Casey, who has played in three Ryder Cups but the last being in 2008, proved to Bjorn that he would be an important addition to the squad over the others.

This story will be updated.