Bjorn wants 'fantastic' Casey to make Ryder Cup return

Thomas Bjorn said he would be a "fool" not to want Paul Casey on Europe's team for the Ryder Cup next year.

Casey was in contention to win the FedEx Cup when he started the final round of the Tour Championship at the top of the leaderboard last month, but fell short as Justin Thomas was crowned champion.

The Englishman has been a regular challenger for PGA Tour titles, finishing in the top 10 on 24 occasions in the last three seasons.

Casey was not eligible to play in last year's Ryder Cup as he opted against taking a European Tour card, but Team Europe captain Bjorn hopes the 40-year-old will be available for selection to face the United States at Le Golf National in 2018.

"As a player, absolutely he's among the 12 best Europeans at the moment, there's no doubt about that," the Dane told Sky Sports News.

"He's played some fantastic golf this year, especially in the FedEx Cup where he played extremely well and got very close.

"A player like that, you'd be a fool if you didn't want him in your team when he's playing the way he is at the moment."

Bjorn added: "Paul has made some very clear decisions in his life about wanting to live in America and he's very happy with his family there.

"Anybody has got to take a step back and understand that he makes decisions from a family point of view and I think any man can understand that.

"We've had a really good open dialogue about where I see things and how he sees things, then it's for him to make a decision and he'll do that in due course."