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Antalya - Europe Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn insists he will afford Paul Casey no favours despite encouraging the Englishman to rejoin the European Tour.
Casey last contested a Ryder Cup in 2008 but was overlooked as a "wildcard" pick in 2010 by captain Colin Montgomerie in favour of Padraig Harrington despite Casey being ranked higher in the world than the Irishman.
Since then, Casey has made himself unavailable for selection by not rejoining the European Tour and instead concentrating on the PGA Tour in the United States.
But given Casey's remarkable past two years in the US where he has gone close to winning on a number of occasions, Bjorn felt obliged to speak with the now 40-year old so that the Dane has his best team on hand in Paris next year.
Bjorn said he has promised Casey no preferential selection favours when he attempts to take the Ryder Cup back from the Americans.
"No, I will not feel obliged as I have to take my 12 best players to France," said Bjorn after signing for a one-under par 70 on day one of the Turkish Airlines Open on Thursday.
"If we're going to have a chance of winning we need our best players. If Paul is among the 12 he'll be there. If I don't see him being among the 12, he won't and Paul knows that.
"This was about making him eligible from a position of being where he is in the world rankings and the way he's played the last couple of years. It would be crazy to have a situation where he wasn't eligible to play."
The 2018 Ryder Cup takes place at Le Golf National outside Paris from Sept 28-30 next year.
