WITH USA Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III set to announce his four wildcard picks next Tuesday, Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler and Brandt Snedeker are among those eager to impress at this weekend’s Deutsche Bank Championship at the TPC Boston, beginning tomorrow.
The eight automatic qualifiers were decided after this month’s USPGA Championship at Kiawah Island and Love will round out his 12-man team when he names his captain’s selections in a news conference in New York.
Cup veterans Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk are widely expected to be included in that quartet, leaving players such as Mahan, Fowler, Snedeker, Nick Watney, Dustin Johnson and Bo Van Pelt to vie for the remaining two spots.
Watney advanced his claims in style with a three-shot victory at The Barclays tournament in Farmingdale, New York, on Sunday, but readily concedes he was on the outside looking in at the start of last week. “I haven’t performed how I would have liked this year as far as making that team,” said Watney.
“But it’s out of my control so all I can do is try to get ready to play (here) and see where the chips fall.
“Someone told me that Davis said he wanted a hot player, and we still have a week to go. I’d love to be on the team.”
Snedeker has also produced good form in a bid to secure a late Ryder Cup call-up by Love, finishing second at The Barclays for his fifth top-10 of the year on the PGA Tour.
“Ryder Cup’s definitely on my mind, but I’m not letting it affect the way I play,” said Snedeker.
The top eight in the US standings after the USPGA Championship were Tiger Woods, Masters champion Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, US Open winner Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar and Phil Mickelson.
Dufner, Bradley and Simpson will make their Ryder Cup debuts, while Watson and Kuchar will each make their second appearances in the biennial team competition. The next seven players in the US standings were Mahan, Stricker, Furyk, Fowler, Snedeker, Van Pelt and long-hitting Johnson.
Stricker, a 12-times USPGA Tour winner who has partnered Tiger Woods successfully on several US teams, and Furyk, a veteran of seven Ryder Cups, are widely viewed as near-certain picks.
Interested onlookers include two of Europe’s Ryder Cup team,Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, as well as Pádraig Harrington, who failed to secure one of captain Jose Maria Olazabal’s wildcard picks.
European masters
Course: Crans-sur-Sierre, Crans Montana, Switzerland
Prize money: €2.1 million. (€350,000 to the winner)
Length: 6,822. Par: 71.
The layout: Famous course in the Swiss mountains is a firm favourite with the players, who get to play in a stunning location. It is a short track, made even shorter as the ball travels so far in the crisp mountain air. Although there are some short par fours the 629-yard par five is a tough challenge.
Last year: Thomas Bjorn shot a final round 62 to win by four shots.
Type of player suited to challenge: Straight-hitter will do well on tricky course.
Key attribute: Accuracy.
Weather forecast: Showers on the first day, but the weekend looks brighter with little wind.
On TV: Sky Sports 1 (10.30am today)
