WITH JUST 18 days of competitive golf to go until Paul McGinley and Tom Watson finalise their Ryder Cup teams for September’s event at Gleneagles there are a number of big name players who could potentially miss out on a place in their respective teams.
The first nine players on the US team have already been confirmed while Europe’s first nine will be finalised on 31 August after the culmination of The Race to Dubai.
The nine players who make up the US team so far are: Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Jimmy Walker, Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Zach Johnson.
Although a strong nine it is without a number of major winners and former Ryder Cup players as well, of course, as the best player ever to play the game. It must also be taken into consideration that a replacement may be necessary for Matt Kuchar who had to withdraw from last week’s USPGA Championship and may not be fit for Gleneagles. Watson has already fielded questions about the possibility of one of his vice-captains, Steve Stricker, playing for the team, saying that he has asked the 47-year-old to bring his clubs to Scotland.
With European golf currently enjoying a sustained spell of success (three of this year’s major championships were won by Europeans) it is no surprise that a number of big names are not on the list, including a multiple major winner and a former world number one.
The nine players currently making up the automatic European spots are: Rory McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Victor Dubuisson, Sergio Garcia, Justin Rose, Martin Kaymer, Thomas Bjorn, Jamie Donaldson and Graeme McDowell.
So who are the players that could potentially be watching proceedings unfold from the comfort of their couches, like the rest of us?
United States
1. Tiger Woods: Where else to start but the former world number one and 14 time major winner. We all know of Tiger’s struggles in recent years and last week’s injury problems and missed cut at the USPGA Championship were just another chapter in this season of woe.
Woods has never played at his best in the Ryder Cup, struggling to fit into the team format. Earlier in the week Tom Watson said that he would pick Woods if he was “fit and playing well”. It’s difficult to see this being the case however. The 38-year-old is not playing anywhere near his potential and the years of playing world class golf look to be catching up on his body. Watson might do better to pick someone younger and fitter.
2. Jason Dufner: ‘Duffmeister’, as he’s known on tour, is another player struggling with injuries, also withdrawing last week after just 10 holes of his opening round. The 2013 USPGA champion finished one spot outside the automatic places but the chances of him being on the plane to Scotland don’t look great. After last week’s withdrawal he was unsure of when he would play next “could be two weeks, could be next year”, he said.
3. Keegan Bradley: The man with the famous ‘back away from the ball numerous times’ pre-shot routine finished four spots outside the automatic nine and must be a sure-fire pick for Captain Watson. Bradley has missed five cuts this season but still amassed a tidy $2.7 million. A former major winner the 28-year-old will be looking to make his second consecutive Ryder Cup appearance and add to his three out of a possible four points record from Medinah in 2012.
4. Webb Simpson: Another member of the 2012 team Simpson has had a season much like Bradley, although he did pick up one victory last October at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Simpson had a decent record at Medinah picking up two points from a possible four after a season that saw him clinch the US Open title.
Missed cuts at three of the four majors this year as well as the Players Championship at Sawgrass don’t bode too well for the 29-year-old however. Watson could decide to look to players more on form such as Ryan Moore, Harris English or Ryan Palmer.
Europe
It’s a sign of how strong European golf really is at this moment that it was difficult to narrow a list down to just four potential captain’s picks.
1. Ian Poulter: No man sums up the spirit of the Ryder Cup more than England’s Ian Poulter. Never short of passion ‘Poults’ has a highly impressive record of 12 out of a possible 15 points in the four Ryder Cups he has competed in. If the 38-year-old fails to make the team automatically he will be the most sure-fire pick since the Glenn Whelan/Keith Andrews midfield duo during Giovanni Trapattoni’s days in charge of Ireland.
Poulter has only one tournament left on his schedule to earn an automatic place and McGinley would surely welcome such an event, enabling him not to have to use up a pick on the Englishman.
2. Luke Donald: Another Englishman not in the automatic standings Donald is only a mere 1.79 points behind Graeme McDowell on the world points list. Like Poulter, Donald has only one more event on his schedule to force his way into the team, that being the Barclays Championship in New Jersey next week. The 36-year-old has only had three top 10 finishes this season and is without a win since the 2012 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
But Donald has a Ryder Cup record just as impressive as Poulter’s, picking up 10 and a half points from a possible 14. He’s also never played in a Ryder Cup when Europe have lost.
3. Lee Westwood: The final player in the trio of Englishmen currently outside the top nine places Westwood has come into form lately. After a run of three missed cuts through June and July he’s turned it around in the last few weeks, topped off by his top 15 finish at Valhalla last week. The 41-year-old has also been a staple of the Ryder Cup since his debut in 1997, appearing in every event since.
4. Graeme McDowell: If the standings were to stay as they are McGinley’s three picks would surely be Poulter, Donald and Westwood. However, were McDowell to be pushed out of the top nine by Scotland’s Stephen Gallagher (currently two places off and with more counting tournaments in his schedule before 2 September) McGinley would be left with the hellish choice of picking three players out of McDowell, Westwood, Poulter and Donald.
Looking to make his fourth consecutive Ryder Cup appearance the Irishman followed the successful defence of his French Open title with a run of three top ten finishes before the USPGA Championship. The 2010 US Open winner is only 1.27 points behind Jamie Donaldson in eighth place, another player in danger of slipping out of the top nine.
At best McGinley can hope that two of the four players listed make it into his team automatically, albeit still leaving him with a difficult choice of picks as the experience of Miguel Angel Jimenez and the consistency of Francesco Molinari must also come into consideration.
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