There was some anticipation that the PGA Championship would change the lineup for this year’s Ryder Cup, but it turns out there was no effect. Here are the eight US qualifiers:
Tiger Woods
Bubba Watson
Jason Dufner
Keegan Bradley
Webb Simpson
Zach Johnson
Matt Kuchar
Phil Mickelson
Dufner, Bradley and Simpson are Ryder Cup rookies.
I think Captain Davis Love has to be breathing a sigh of relief that Mickelson made the cut—and that he won’t have to face the controversy of using a Captain’s pick for Mickelson. If Phil had not played better at the PGA Championship than he had in recent months, I think it would have been the subject of much public discussion.
Now the question is who are the four Captain’s picks? The next five on the list are Hunter Mahan, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler and Brandt Snedeker. I think Stricker and Furyk are a lock. That leaves two, and I expect that Davis will take Hunter Mahan.
But who gets the final slot? Speculation seems to circulate around Fowler, Snedeker and Dustin Johnson, each of whom are winners this year. If it were my pick, I’d go with Bo Van Pelt. Van Pelt doesn’t have a win, but he’s been more consistent: 8 Top Tens and 13 Top 25s in 20 events. Fowler is 5 and 6 in 19 events; Johnson is 5 and 7 in 15 events; Snedeker is 4 and 7 in 17 events.
Van Pelt also had the best PGA Championship, finishing t18. Johnson finished t48. Snedeker and Fowler missed the cut.
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I would pick Fowler even though Van Pelt has been a very solid player the last couple of years. Fowler will play in a lot of these matches and it’s best to pick him now. Give him some more experience.
Plus he’s got a better blade. The Ryder Cup is all about making clutch putts. I’d rather have Fowler for that reason over Johnson or Van Pelt.
Daly actually would be a good pick. He has had very strong Sundays – and is playing fairly consistent golf.
However, I go with Mahan, Furyk, Fowler, Snedeker. Mahan and Furyk are easy picks. I pick Fowler and Snedeker because both will bring interest and can hold their own.
John Daly. He’s done well the past few tournaments. And he also finished T18 in the PGA Championship.
Yeah I would go for Rickie Fowler as well. He played pretty well at the last Ryder Cup. With the event being stage in the US I can see Rickie getting a lot of support which will help him get through some tough matches.