“We’re going to work on that the next two weeks and announce our pick next Sunday night based on what fits best for our team, not really who shoots the lowest scores in the last tournament”. Zero. The most matches without a Ryder Cup point in history.
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The U.S. has lost eight of the last 10 Ryder Cup matches, a biennial event dating to 1927.
Watson, though, will get one last opportunity to make an impression on Love. “We found no weaknesses in his game, and he’s such a great team mate”.
Love announced his picks Monday morning at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minn., site of the Ryder Cup Sept. 30-Oct. 2.
“We were still watching at the end, calling guys”, said Love, referring to Sunday’s final round of the BMW Championship in Indiana.
Casey, who at World No 16 is ranked above eight of the European team, was not considered for a place because he chose to play exclusively in America this season rather than compete on the European Tour. Captain Tom Watson, whose brand of leadership prompted the player upheaval that led to the Ryder Cup task forced and Love getting a second chance at the helm, skipped over the first, second and third players to miss out on automatic qualifying. An anonymous, if somewhat puerile, poll conducted past year suggested that a quarter of PGA Tour players wouldn’t help Watson out in a hypothetical bar brawl and thus indicated that he isn’t overwhelmingly popular in the locker room.
“He’s so excited to be on the team again”, Love said of Fowler.
Among the biggest names left off the team – at least so far – was Bubba Watson, who is ranked ahead of Love’s three captain’s picks in both the world rankings and the Ryder Cup points standings, but who hasn’t finished in the top 10 in a PGA Tour event since March and who is 3-8 lifetime in Ryder Cup play. The choices lean heavily on Ryder Cup experience as the Americans go for their first win since 2008. Watson actually showed some maturity in his response, accepting the result and pledging to make more of an effort.
“He (Love) has got a great team around him and it’s going to be a lot of fun”.
Kuchar, who won a bronze medal at Rio, qualified 16th after tying for fourth at Crooked Stick.
“It stinks for me to be sitting on the outside needing a pick”, Kuchar said. Hopefully Love’s picks don’t underperform, losing the fourth straight Ryder Cup. Kuchar said. “That would be incredible”.
Thomas Pieters, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer were selected as picks by European captain Darren Clarke last month, the inclusion of the Belgian taking the number of rookies in the defending champions’ team to six.
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“I am not trying to peak for the Ryder Cup”, he said. He was a member of the 2008 United States team that took home the crown from the Valhalla course in Louisville, Kentucky – which is also the last time the USA was crowned champions.
