Name Your Team USA Ryder Cup Squad

[rehmwa]

Without actually having heard the comments, mind you ... I don't follow at all.  This is a common sentiment from different players every Ryder Cup cycle.  And I know he's not even the first this year to express these feelings.  Nobody wants to rely on a captains pick to make the team, they all want to earn their spot.

Why is it a big deal that Reed also said this?

I get that.  The delivery was really bad and didn't come across as simple as it really is (as you state).  That's all I was glitching about.

IMO - a player 'earns' his spot if he makes the team either route.

[ChrisP]

That being said, if he has a bad week this week and misses another cut, he's prolly back on the outside looking in. This is a huge week for him to make a statement.

Holding true to what I said, he had another bad week and missed another cut, and now I think he's on the outside looking in. Todd missing the cut as well it appears. If Haas wins it may stir things up, but I think with the announcement in a few days, Simpson, Mahan and Bradley have to be sitting pretty right now.

[acerimusdux]

If Haas wins it may stir things up, but I think with the announcement in a few days, Simpson, Mahan and Bradley have to be sitting pretty right now.

I'm kind of rooting for Mahan, Bradley, and Haas at this point.  Haas is probably still a bit of a darkhorse though.

[ChrisP]

My only issue with Mahan is that even though he won last week, he hasn't done anything this year that's very noteworthy. Another bad week this week.

Will be interesting to see if a big darkhorse is selected. Usually every Ryder Cup season there's one of those guys. It could be a Kevin Streelman or Chris Kirk this go around.

Listening to both Chamblee and Rosaforte this morning, they both think that Bradley's a lock. They're torn on Simpson and Snedeker. Rosaforte seems to think Snedeker will get picked, while Chamblee thinks Simpson will get picked. Both have no idea how Watson will view Mahan.

[acerimusdux]

I'm a bit torn on Simpson, as he has been very up and down, but his overall stats at this point probably do make him a favorite.  For the season, he's now at #17 in total strokes gained, # 14 in money won, #5 in top 10 finishes. And as for guys who "play well on Sunday", he ranks #7 in final round scoring average.  Those are all pretty strong ranks when one considers that a lot of the guys ahead of him are not American.

And I had been leaning towards Haas as a good dark horse, but I think the problem there is that Haas strength is that he is a great ballstriker, something the team already has plenty of. His weakness seems to be putting, which is what the team may need more of. So maybe a guy like Brendon Todd would be a better fit.

Todd I think would be a good fit in team play, so long as you pair him with a strong driver like Mahan or Fowler, or even Ryan Moore.  Todd ranks #16 in scoring average, #15 in money leaders, but also #6 in strokes gained putting, #3 in total birdies, and #6 in scrambling.  The way the Centenary Course is laid out, 7 of the 10 par fours are odd numbered holes.  So basically, in foursomes where you are playing alternate shot, you have a guy like Todd tee off on odd numbered holes, and then he's the guy who will be putting for birdie on most of the par 3s, par 4s, and par 5s.

So given the makeup of the rest of the team, I think Todd would actually be a strong choice, despite not being the biggest name.

And are we assuming Moore is in automatically since Dufner is out? Is that how it works? If so, he's yet another guy who is strong tee to green (#15 strikes gained) but not putting (#72 strokes gained). Looks like he is strong both off the tee and with long approach shots.  A Moore + Todd team might play well above expectations in foursomes.

[iacas]

Tomorrow at 6pm on Golf Channel, right?

[MEfree]

Mahan is the highest OWGR player not on the team (other than DJ & Tiger) , won last week and is #3 in Fed Ex having played well 3 of his last 4 tournaments.  Kirk is #1 Fed Ex with 2 wins this year   I think the picks will be Mahan, Bradley and Kirk but it wouldn't surprise me to see something else.

19	20	47		Jimmy Walker	4.3517	226.29	52	-90.82	187.85	54
20	19	31		Hunter Mahan	4.2272	219.82	52	-105.59	157.17	54
21	22	32		Victor Dubuisson	4.1034	176.45	43	-66.17	110.42	43
22	21	18		Charl Schwartzel	4.0828	212.31	52	-139.61	102.60	57
23	24	20		Keegan Bradley	3.9464	205.21	52	-144.46	126.86	56
24	23	8		Steve Stricker	3.9424	157.70	40	-128.48	57.24	28
25	45	60		Chris Kirk	3.9274	204.22	52	-66.64	163.33	55
26	26	24		Thomas Bjorn	3.8137	190.68	50	-88.47	87.21	50
27	25	73		Patrick Reed	3.7525	195.13	52	-57.84	177.85	55

[ChrisP]

Here's the case against Mahan: just two-top 10 finishes in his last 17 events....including 6 MCs. Chris Kirk.....just 2 T10s in his last 21 events. Before their wins the last two weeks, were they even on Tom Watson's radar? That's something to consider.

Reason why I think Bradley and Simpson are good bets are because not only have they been on good form the last couple months tallying up a lot of top-10s, they played really well in team competition the last Ryder Cup. Watson/Simpson went 2-1 (very nearly 3-0) and Mickelson/Bradley went 3-0.

But outside of Simpson and Bradley, I think that last pick can go to anyone. I think eventually it's a choice between Snedeker or Mahan with Haas being the possible surprise pick. Snedeker's played well in majors this year and has had a pretty good last couple months....and while I don't think his friendship with Watson should matter....deep down I think Tom wants to pick him (but not sure he will). I think it's too little too late for Kirk. Outside of this week, he's done nothing of late.

[acerimusdux]

Quote:

Mahan is the highest OWGR player not on the team (other than DJ & Tiger) , won last week and is #3 in Fed Ex having played well 3 of his last 4 tournaments.  Kirk is #1 Fed Ex with 2 wins this year   I think the picks will be Mahan, Bradley and Kirk but it wouldn't surprise me to see somethin

Of course the problem witht he current Fed Ex Cup ranking is it probably gives too much weight to two tournaments. In the season standings, Mahan was only at #62.  Chris Kirk on the other hand, was at #10 even in the season standings. I think Kirk's performance maybe now rules out Haas, since they are somewhat similar arguments, and Kirk's case is now stronger. I was impressed that Haas hadn't missed any cuts all year, but Kirk only missed two.

The problem is, while Kirk has ranked well on money won (19th), none of his other stats are really that good. He's just done a good job of finishing in the money, while only having 4 top 10s.  Of course it helps that two of those were wins.  No part of his game especially stands out, though he does seem to be pretty good with approach shots and longer puts.

I'm really not sure anyone is a given at this point. Simpson, Kirk, Todd, Bradley, Mahan are probably the strongest candidates. I wouldn't be surprised at any of them missing out, though.

[newtogolf]

Of course the problem witht he current Fed Ex Cup ranking is it probably gives too much weight to two tournaments. In the season standings, Mahan was only at #62.  Chris Kirk on the other hand, was at #10 even in the season standings. I think Kirk's performance maybe now rules out Haas, since they are somewhat similar arguments, and Kirk's case is now stronger. I was impressed that Haas hadn't missed any cuts all year, but Kirk only missed two.

The problem is, while Kirk has ranked well on money won (19th), none of his other stats are really that good. He's just done a good job of finishing in the money, while only having 4 top 10s.  Of course it helps that two of those were wins.  No part of his game especially stands out, though he does seem to be pretty good with approach shots and longer puts.

I'm really not sure anyone is a given at this point. Simpson, Kirk, Todd, Bradley, Mahan are probably the strongest candidates. I wouldn't be surprised at any of them missing out, though.

Posted this in the wrong thread -

I think Bradley, Mahan and Simpson are the more likely 3 but we'll see in a few hours.   Phil has to be pulling for Bradley given how well they paired up last time, Simpson and Mahan both have played in a Ryder Cups before too.

This will be the first year for Spieth, Reed and Walker so I'd think he'd use his picks on guys that have at least some tournament experience.

The team doesn't look as strong on paper without DJ, Tiger and Dufner.  I wouldn't be upset if he picked Fred Couples just to add some experience and positive energy to the team.

[Crim]

I'd pick Bradley, Simpson, and Mahan in that order. Easy choices IMO.

[Gunther]

Gotta pick Kirk because of how he smoked Rory this weekend. NOT because Rory thinks he's good like Rolfing repeated ad nauseam over the past 2 days.

[Chilli Dipper]

I was sure it was going to be Bradley, Mahan, and Simpson 24 hours ago, but Kirk's victory changes things. Kirk was on the bubble a month ago, and if you told me he'd win in the playoffs, I would have thought it would be good enough to play his way on the team.

[acerimusdux]

I was sure it was going to be Bradley, Mahan, and Simpson 24 hours ago, but Kirk's victory changes things. Kirk was on the bubble a month ago, and if you told me he'd win in the playoffs, I would have thought it would be good enough to play his way on the team.

Yeah, that's the thing. Here's the 10-15 in Ryder Cup points through the PGA championship:

10 Dufner

11 Moore

12 Todd

13 Bradley

14 Kirk

15 Simpson

I was mistaken above about a replacement for Dufner, as he's not in the top 9. I think there had been speculation at some point about Kuchar, but he's obviously healthy and playing well, so no replacement needed, thus Moore is not on the team.

Anyway, if you had told me at the time that one of these guys would be leading the Fed Ex playoffs on Sept 1, I would have said, yeah that guy will make it. I started speculating on guys like Mahan and Snedeker when I thought none of these guys were playing that well. But that has changed in the last few weeks.

At this point, I think you can say Bradley, Kirk, and Simpson all have played well enough to deserve it.  Todd would be a tough cut, but while he was red hot from May-July, he's the one guy who didn't play that well in August.

Anyway, if Watson thought he had his team picked before yesterday, I think Kirk may well have thrown a monkey wrench into it.

[skydog]

Still not liking the Mahan pick. If I'm TWatson, I'm picking Bradley, Horschel, and flipping a coin between Simpson and Kirk.

[ScouseJohnny]

Still not liking the Mahan pick. If I'm TWatson, I'm picking Bradley, Horschel, and flipping a coin between Simpson and Kirk.

Mahan is a good matchplay golfer. Speaking as a European, I'm not liking him on the US team, either!

[Gunther]

I'd go Bradley, Snedeker and then a toss-up between Mahan and Simpson.  Sneds has the kind of passion the team needs and can get hot with the putter and start rolling in from all over.

The only way Sneds is even in the equation right now is his relationship with Watson. He is not in form and should not be chosen. Bradley fills the emotion void, Kirk just lit up McIlroy and Mahan has a recent win. I believe those should be the picks. 6 short hours away...

[FarawayFairways]

Bradley, Mahan and Simpson are all currently odds on

Kirk a shade odds against. This needn't mean anything of course, but in 'decision markets' those people whose livelihoods depend on 'knowing' these things tend to be correct with an uncanny level of accuracy (as they were on the European team) albeit the principals there were much more heavily odds-on

Europe won't be too upset to see Kirk in the team, albeit he probably represents a little bit of the unknown that we'd fear most. I wouldn't get too hung up about McIlroy, I sense America is more in fear of him than the regard the Europeans hold him in. He's only one player, and hasn't exactly ever really shown that he loves the RC or completely relishes this format. Europe doesn't place the stock in Rory that America placed in Tiger. He's been beaten early doors before without any evidence that European morale crumbled like America's did when Tiger and Phil got taken down twice on the opening down

If the US wants to build a strategy around McIlroy, then fine, but its very often better to concentrate 90% on your own team and 10% the opposition. I suspect that getting to Poulter might actually deliver the bigger pyschological blow as he's the teams heartbeat and Sergio is its passion. Rory's its leading player, but there's no single stand out totem like the Tiger Woods teams of the last decade