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Who will Tom Watson pick for the Ryder Cup team?

Published

11 years ago

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We’re still more than three weeks away from the matches at Gleneagles, but the United States’ Ryder Cup hopes aren’t looking great.

The European squad is stacked at the top, with four of the world’s top five suiting it up for the home team in Scotland.

Then of course there’s the issue of recent Ryder Cup results, with the Euros capturing six of the last seven editions—including overcoming a 10-6 on American soil. And the European captain’s picks (announced earlier Tuesday) are a harrowing bunch. Lee Westwood isn’t the most inspired selection, but Stephen Gallacher has been a formidable competitor on the European Tour for the past few years and is enjoying a sensational 2014. And we don’t have to mention what Ian Poulter brings to the table (OK fine, 12 victories in his last 15 Ryder Cup matches).

If you’re starting to get visions of 2004 and 2006 right about now, hold back though. While the American squad boasts no top-five players (Patrick Reed doesn’t count), it does possess Nos. 7-11. The average world ranking of Europe’s nine automatic qualifiers is 12.9, with the U.S. close behind at 13.3. Taking away the influence of each team’s top-four, and Europe’s number rises to 20.6, with the Americans at 17.2. According to the World Rankings then, among the auto qualifiers the United States has a deeper squad.

Not all hope is lost then. U.S. Captain Tom Watson has some intriguing options for his three captain’s picks, which he will announce at 7 p.m. These three names could be the difference. Who do we expect old man Watson to take?

Here are our predictions.

Hunter Mahan

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Probably a no-brainer at this point. All captains make recent form a heavy factor in their wild card criteria, but Watson seems especially bent on doing so. That’s great news for Mahan.

After what can only be described as a disappearing act the first seven months of the season, the 32-year-old has come on strong lately. Mahan finished 65-67 at the PGA Championship for a T7 showing, and two weeks later captured the Barclays title with a final-round 65.

Mahan did place a lackluster 64th at the Deutsche Bank Championship, but that should hardly matter considering his previous two performances.

And let’s not forget that Watson is also heavily slanted toward “the gut factor,” or players who rise to the occasion under final-round pressure. That Sunday at the Barclays looks awfully good for Mahan then.

Combine that with his excellent form and it would be a shock if he is kept off the squad.

Keegan Bradley

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This pick was pretty much set in stone once Phil Mickelson automatically qualified. Lefty and his fiery young friend obliterated their Ryder Cup foes at Medinah in 2012, storming to a 3-0 record that included 7&6 and 4&3 victories.

That memory is probably impossible for Watson to ignore, especially with Mickelson showing flashes of his old self with his near win at the PGA Championship. Captains tend to search desperately for any point they can get, and with the Mickelson-Bradley combo showing no signs of fissure, the possibility of throwing away a potential of three or four points by breaking them up is a risk I bet Watson is not willing to commit to.

Bradley also has that “gut factor” in spades, with numerous clutch Sunday performances throughout his career (even if none of them are recent).

The only way Watson was going to omit Bradley was by way of extremely poor recent performance. The 27-year-old’s two top-16s in his last four starts throws away that caveat.

Without this significant dip, Bradley has stamped his spot on the squad.

Ryan Moore

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To me, Watson’s third and final selection is the sole spot that really is up in the air. And it’s just a stab in the dark. So here’s mine.

Yes, Moore isn’t exactly a shining example of recent great form—Cut-73 in his last two starts, with no rounds in the 60s—which, as I mentioned, is a highly important criteria for Watson.

But the 64-year-old has never been afraid to go off the grid, and with the U.S. having the inferior squad, Watson knows that he must get the most out of his Captain’s picks. That means using at least one selection on a flyer—and that’s exactly what Moore is.

While his outward demeanor strikes him as a listless, apathetic character, Moore has expressed his desire to help out the squad. He’s secretly a competitive monster, and if you have any doubt about Moore’s “guts,” Nick Watney will quickly bash any of your fears to a pulp.

Moore may have the highest upside of the potential captain’s picks.

But overall I’m not in Watson’s head, so the Moore pick is just a hunch. The other candidates at this point seem to be Bill Haas, Billy Horschel, Ryan Palmer, Brandt Snedeker, Chris Kirk and Webb Simpson.

Haas has been playing well, but I don’t think he inspires Watson. Horschel’s chunked six-iron Monday probably sunk his chances. Palmer probably wasn’t much on Watson’s radar in the first place. Snedeker has been very underwhelming for months (at least Moore had a great stretch in June and July). Kirk is a lot better than people think, but Watson doesn’t seem to know a lot about him, and Kirk’s indifferent comments about his potential selection probably didn’t sit well. Simpson, no idea, just don’t think he’s going to make the cut.

Whatever the case, Watson better choose wisely, because the U.S. can’t afford any more disadvantages.

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Kevin's fascination with the game goes back as long as he can remember. He has written about the sport on the junior, college and professional levels and hopes to cover its proceedings in some capacity for as long as possible. His main area of expertise is the PGA Tour, which is his primary focus for GolfWRX. Kevin is currently a student at Northwestern University, but he will be out into the workforce soon enough. You can find his golf tidbits and other sports-related babble on Twitter @KevinCasey19. GolfWRX Writer of the Month: September 2014

14 Comments

14 Comments

  1. Deann Mancuso

    Sep 9, 2014 at 1:20 am

    He should have picked a golfer peaking right now doing almost everything right like Ryan Palmer!! Bad choice not picking him would have been great assets to the team gets along with everyone. Hits really long in control of his game would have done great in a team situation!!!But he’s not one of the main stream media good old boys so he didn’t get picked. To bad for u Watson lost lots of respect for this man.

    Reply Report comment

  2. Boring

    Sep 4, 2014 at 3:19 am

    Should’ve been Ryan Moore, Woodland and JB Holmes. At least then there would have been some excitement! Now we have boring, boring, and brown-nose Keegan. Boring!

    Reply Report comment

  3. Chris

    Sep 3, 2014 at 8:56 pm

    I would have picked Henley or Kirk over Simpson. Europe’s team is pretty stacked and they always seem to be the better “team”….would be surprised (pleasantly) if we bring this one home

    Reply Report comment

  4. steve

    Sep 3, 2014 at 8:38 am

    Webb Simpson he deserves to be picked? Why, because he the U.S open then basically fell off. Mahan didn’t he already show his guts in the Ryder Cup. Bradley did they win with him? Or did he beg to be picked. And just to throw this in. Phil shouldn’t be on the team. When you clapped and give thumbs up when you are getting putts drained on you. He shouldn’t be on the team. Its like clapping when the other team scores in the Super Bowl or World Series. It doesn’t mean that much to Phil, if it did he wouldn’t applaud getting beat.

    Reply Report comment

    • Ponjo

      Sep 3, 2014 at 12:12 pm

      Phil applauded the putts of Justin Rose because he realised they were magnificent shots. Phil emphasises the spirit the Ryder Cup was intended to be played in. I suppose you think Corey Pavin et al were better

      Reply Report comment

  5. dot dot

    Sep 3, 2014 at 7:51 am

    Not Keenan Bradley, please don’t let that be true. Another golf weekend of endless club twirling, walking up to the ball, away from the ball, up to the ball, away from the ball, up to the ball, away from the ball, spit spit, twirl twirl spit twirl swing. It’s in the fairway. Yea’s and claps. annnnnnd repeat. Looks like I’ll be watching reruns on TV Land again.

    Reply Report comment

  6. Jeff

    Sep 3, 2014 at 12:38 am

    So who did he pick? Golf News Website

    Reply Report comment

    • Jeff

      Sep 3, 2014 at 12:43 am

      OK, so he picked Bradley, Mahan and Webb Simpson. Good solid picks. Webb is a good partner for Bubba. Webb is a major champion. I would have picked Henley on the strength of his play of late, but that’s why I’m not the Ryder Cup Captain. I’d like to see Tiger Woods as a Vice Captain, but again, not the captain. All I can say is GO U.S.A!

      Reply Report comment

  7. courtney

    Sep 2, 2014 at 7:41 pm

    Like Keegan – can’t pass on that record. Not so hot on Mahan after so many blown chips and pitches in important situations. And so-so on Simpson – picked because he really wanted to be on the team ??

    I wanted Chris Kirk and Brendon Todd.

    All in all, it’s hard to argue against any of the guys in the top 25 on the list, I just wanted to see more new blood that hasn’t been used to getting their heads handed to them in the Ryder Cup.

    Reply Report comment

  8. Jimmy

    Sep 2, 2014 at 6:53 pm

    Moore henley kirk sounds like a good group

    Reply Report comment

  9. Cwolf

    Sep 2, 2014 at 6:34 pm

    Gotta take Kirk. He beat Rory 5&4 yesterday!

    Reply Report comment

  10. Rwj

    Sep 2, 2014 at 6:03 pm

    To be fair, Mickelson and Bradley lost their singles matches. I do believe, unless something has changed, that’s where the US lost the Ryder Cup. The two are sideways enough to need another’s help and struggle when the load is squarely on their shoulders. Mickelson made it on points bc of last year, this year has shown his age. It will be interesting to watch his performance. Keegan just hasn’t had a putt to drop, hopefully his team matches will help him with his confidence. It’s going to be a pain watching his reshot during Ryder cup pressure. Good luck USA, we just seem to struggle with those Euros

    Reply Report comment

  11. Jeff

    Sep 2, 2014 at 2:46 pm

    Henley, Bradley, & Mahan

    Reply Report comment

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