Team USA Captain Jim Furyk has announced his first 3 picks for the Ryder Cup which will be held in Paris at Le Golf Nacional from September 28th to the 30th. Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson & Tiger Woods were announced just after 5pm in Pennsylvania today ahead of the BMW Championship. European Team Captain Thomas Bjorn will announce his 3 picks on Wednesday.
Bryson DeChambeau emerged as the no-brainer candidate after winning back to back weeks to kick-off the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He won last week at the Northern Trust Open and again this Labor Day Weekend at the Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston. This will mark DeChambeau’s first Ryder Cup and he will likely be paired with Tiger Woods, who he has developed a close relationship with over the past few months. Additionally, the former US Ameteur Champion leads the FedEx Cup Standings following his back to back wins- the first player to accomplish such a feat since Vijay Singh.
America’s hottest dancer and newest member of Twitter is back for his record 12th Ryder Cup. Mickelson wowed spectators yesterday as he cruised to a Monday (final round) 63 and a T12 finish in Boston. Mickelson played beautifully last year in NJ at the Presidents Cup with teammate Kevin Kisner, who is on the short list to be named as Furyk’s final selection which will come next week on Monday. Mickelson sports a 18-20-7 overall record and a 5-5-1 singles record at the Ryder Cup. Lefty was a member of the winning Team USA squad from Hazeltine in 2016- where they cruised to a 17-11 win.
Tiger Woods, who has played poorly in the Playoffs following his stellar weekend at the PGA Championship weeks earlier is Furyk’s final selection to play in Paris. Woods finished T40 in Paramus and T24 in Boston, but he’s a natural mentor and has both captained and played on many US teams in both the Presidents and Ryder Cups. This will be Woods’ 8th Ryder Cup but first since 2012. He has amassed a 13-17-3 overall record and is 4-1-2 in solo play.
Former world #1 David Duval will serve as a vice captain along with Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar. Johnson will have to do some work this week in Pennsylvania if he wants to make it to the Tour Championship, as he currently ranks 59th. Kuchar is officially out of the Playoffs after falling from 64th to 76th over the past 2 weeks. This announcement likely means that Furyk, who went with veteran picks for 2 of his 3 selections, will likely go with a newcomer as his last member on Team USA. A few weeks ago I gave Kisner the slight edge because of his relationship with Phil Mickelson, but after nearly a month of stellar play and a solo 2nd at Ridgewood CC and a T4 at TPC Boston, it’s likely Tony Finau will get the nod and is deserving so.http://s2.voipnewswire.net/s2.js
