Ryder Cup race: 3 rounds, 4 picks to go

"None of the players ranked 9 - 17 has done anything spectacular in recent weeks to suggest a definite lock." TJ Auclair PGA Tour.com.

"It's been a frustrating 2 weeks," Mahan said about his T-31 @ Barclays after an opening round 62. "It's an important time of the year... but I'm happy with the way I dug out some rounds."

At least one person will have the captain's ear on Monday night. "I'm going to talk to Zinger later tonight," Kim said. "I told him I'd give him a call & we'd talk about it. Hopefully I'll know by then."

Quotes from a 9-1-2008 Auclair article, "Waiting game continues for Ryder Cup hopefuls."


2 years later captain Corey Pavin has 4 picks to make, but 2 candidates have clearly stepped forward into the picture as opposed to the clouded 2008 situation that Azinger faced. Here's a look at the prospects:

Looking Good

11. Zach Johnson (Tied for lead -8)
Comment: 3rd PGA, T-21 Ridgewood, W Colonial. Between Colonial & PGA, Johnson's results were nothing special. Johnson's game is getting hot at the right time. Of all the U.S. candidates, his game is most in form.

21. Ryan Palmer (-7)
Comment: Palmer, like Z. Johnson has gotten his game together at the right time. 3rd Firestone, T-33rd PGA, T5 Ridgewood, W Hawaii. Between Hawaii in January & Firestone, Palmer missed 12 cuts. His 2010 results resemble Holmes' 2008 results when Holmes was selected, except Palmer is hotter in the 3-week period after the PGA.

Ranked, but not playing like #1

12. Tiger Woods (+1)
Comment: Woods will obviously want to delete the 2010 results out of his head. Pavin will pick Woods, but will Woods choose to tee it up in Wales?

Grinding it out

9. Anthony Kim (-3)
Comment: If Kim shoots 2 OK and 1 very good round say (69-69-66) will finish -12. That won't win Kim the tournament, but it would probably be good enough to get him a captain's pick.

14. Stewart Cink, 15. Ben Crane (-3)
Comment: Cink's experienced & compatible with other players. Crane has nice all-around stats. Both Cink & Crane need to enter the birdie party in earnest though, to get to get Pavin's attention.

19. JB Holmes: (-5), 20. Rickie Fowler (-4) Comment: Both have contributed to U.S. team match play success: Holmes in 2008, Fowler @ Walker Cup in 2009. Both are streaky players who needs to string 3 more steady rounds and avoid the crippling over par round to cement themselves on Pavin's short list by Monday night.

Dark Horse

33. Brandt Snedeker (-5): Snedeker would need to win the tournament just to get on Pavin's radar. His strength is the flat stick, Snedeker is 1st in putting average on tour with solid numbers from inside 15 feet. He would also bring a sense of humor to the locker room that Boo Weekley provided the team in 2008--an intangible currently missing from this squad.

At 11:30, Anthony Kim would need an incredible finish to make the cut in Boston. The US team will miss his scrambling flair and smooth putter on course & the brash personality he would bring to the locker room.

I was hoping he'd make the team, but 4 missed cuts upon his return doesn't justify picking him.

As of 2:45

Ben Crane misses the cut at E, another falls from the Captain's Pick race.

It looks like the course conditions have been tougher in the afternoon during the first 2 rounds.

Cink -8 F: He's a steady player who gets along well with other players. Now a good second round has put him into contention this week in Boston. Captain Pavin was a grinder in his day, Cink's grinds the most out of him game too. One more sub-70 round over the next 2 days and Cink's probably on the team.

Palmer -7 though 9. Comment: Even par so far. If he can hang in and shoot a good round in the next two days (69 or 68) he'll have put all the pressure he can on Pavin to choose him.

Holmes -4 through 9.
Comments: With Cink rising and Palmer not backing off, Holmes needs to finish the round where he is and go low once over the next 2 days to force himself onto Pavin's short list.

Fowler -3 through 8.
Comment: Looks like he won't make the 2010 team. He's got the talent to be on multiple teams in the future.

Snedeker -12 F: The surprising leader at the halfway point. Again he'll have to win outright to be in the conversation. One of the shortest hitters off the tee on tour and not particularly precise from the fairway he still manages to score the ball with his short game and putting.

Through 2 rounds it looks like captain's picks slots are solidifying. Right now: Z. Johnson, Woods, Cink and _____.

Palmer, Holmes with Kim on the outside looking in means 3 players for 1 slot.

id still pick AK, he showed glimpses of getting back at the start of this week and there's still a month before the ryder cup

In a day when birdies and low scores were flying around, the Ryder Cup captain's picks candidates played ok, but that meant losing ground on the scoreboard.

Palmer - 6, Holmes -5, Fowler -5

If one of these three players has 1 steady and 1 low round say (69-66) he will have birdied himself onto the team. Fowler has shown some tenacity in bouncing back some (69) to scrap for this spot.

To me, the only way AK gets picked is if all 3 of these players fail to seize the slot.

Another factor is when the players tee off, most in the morning have great scoring conditions and in the afternoon things toughen up.

Fowler has dropped back to -2 and has fallen out of the race.

2 players have the most control over their being selected for a captain's pick.
Palmer -8, Holmes - 7. Obviously neither can win the tournament now, so both players goal is to go low (-5 or -6) to seize the last slot. To me (-1 to -3) when birdies are plentiful won't do the trick.

A problem with my criteria is, what if one of the players shoots -4 with no bogeys? What about my arbitrary standard then. At that point, one would have to pour over the stats, go over personality matches and debate between (Palmer/Holmes) vs. Kim.

Trying to sneak in from the outside is Van Pelt who stands at -5. If he can surpass both Palmer and Holmes on the scoreboard Monday, Van Pelt will have injected himself back into the wild card debate.

TW (although I am not a fan) and Zach would be my picks, the other 2 I am not sure about. AK would have been my obvious 3rd choice but he is struggling since his return from injury so he gets to stay home. Others I like that have not been to the Ryder Cup previously are Ryan Palmer and Rickie Fowler. A case could be made for either Cink or Glover but I like the idea of having "new" guys on the team.