Davis Love III is making his final pick for the USA Ryder Cup team during halftime of tonight's Sunday Night Football. While making this pick he has many things he needs to consider, does he go with youth or experience? Momentum or historical greatness? Consistency solid or moments of elite flash? These are all things that need to be considered and with that said here are 12 solid choices that would be good for Love's final pick. Note these choices are in no particular order as the author will express his opinion for who deserves to be the final pick at the end of the article.
Current Team
Dustin Johnson
Jordan Spieth
Patrick Reed
Phil Mickelson
Brandt Snedeker
Brooks Koepka
Zach Johnson
Jimmy Walker
Rickie Fowler
J.B. Holmes
Matt Kuchar
1. Bubba Watson
Bubba Watson is the #7 player in the world, has won once already this year, along with a second place finish at Doral and has won 2 majors in the past 6 years. He is also playing in the Tour Championship this year. For most golfers that is a solid year but for Bubba it is a disappointment, as he does not have a top 10 since Doral. In addition there are concerns that he may not be a team player due to his individualistic style.
2. Kevin Chappell
Kevin Chappell is having the best season of his career, 7 top 10's and a 70 spot increase in the OWGR. He is even currently tied for the lead at the Tour Championship so he has momentum on his side. My only concern with him is I'm not sure how his closing ability when it matters most is, as he hasn't been able to turn any of those top 10's into wins.
3. Ryan Moore
Ryan Moore was having a pretty lackluster season up to his standards up until about mid August. Then he was able to win at the John Deere Classic, and he's been playing great since. He has 8 top 10's and is currently T3 at the Tour Championship. My concern with him is that he has not had much success in majors in his career with only 2 top 10's in 35 majors played.
4. Kevin Kisner
After a season in which he heartbreakingly lost in 3 playoffs in a 12 week stand, he was finally able to break through with his first career win at the RSM Classic, as well as getting 5 other top 10's this season. He is 3rd in putting for this PGA Tour season. He was near top of the Fedex Cup for most of early 2016 but has fallen off a little bit since.
5. Justin Thomas
After a rookie season in which he had 7 Top 10's but finished 32nd in the Fedex Cup and just missed out on a Tour Championship and lost the ROY race to Daniel Berger, Thomas was able to come back and win in Malaysia to make his 1st career trip to East Lake. He has 5 other Top 10's and has built a great rapport with one of the members of the team Jordan Spieth whom he has been friends with since childhood.
6. Daniel Berger
Berger has backed up his ROY season with another return back to East Lake and his first career win at the Fedex St. Jude Classic, along with 5 other Top 10's including one at Augusta. In addition him, Bubba and Justin Thomas were invited with the other Ryder Cup members to practice at Hazeltine so it's possible he could be a choice.
7. Bill Haas
While Haas missed out on the Tour Championship for the first time in a few seasons, he still had a decent season with 6 top 10's including a playoff loss to Charl Schwartzel at the Valspar Championship. A President's cup veteran, having played in 3 Cup's he has never played at the Ryder Cup yet. However Haas has been able to come up in clutch situations throughout his career, as he's best known for his shot from the water on the first playoff hole which helped him defeat Hunter Mahan at the Tour Championship. He has struggled in majors though with only 1 top 10 in 29 starts, though that top 10 was at this years Open.
8. Kevin Na
Yes, if you look at the leaderboard at the Tour Championship you'll see Kevin Na in last by a lot but he has had a very solid season with 8 top 10's including a few second place finishes. He was able to qualify for the Tour Championship even with missing a playoff event for the birth of his daughter. The concerning thing for me with him is his driving as he averages less than 280 yards off the tee which is 173rd on tour.
9. Jim Furyk
Jim Furyk was injured until May with a wrist injury so he was only able to play 14 events, which contributed to the fact that the wasn't even able to make the BMW Championship. He was only able to get 3 top 10's as well. Though one of those Top 10's was a T2 at the US Open, and another one was at the Travelers where he set the PGA Tour record for shooting the lowest round ever a 58. He has a lot of Ryder Cup experience as well.
10. Steve Stricker
It seems the less golf that Steve Stricker plays the better golfer he is. Unlike Furyk he chose to play a limited amount events on purpose and only had 3 top 10's in 15 starts. But he lead the PGA Tour in scrambling, and one of those top 10's was a T4 at The Open.
11. Bryson DeChambeau
Even with his limited success as a PGA Tour player with decent finishings at the Masters and US Open and a top 10. DeChambeau was unable to get his PGA Tour card so he had to play the Web.com tour finals, so what did the former #1 amateur do? He won his first event and got his full PGA Tour Card.
12. Tiger Woods
While Tiger hasn't played any event this season, no one can deny the success he's had on Tour and the Ryder Cup. He is on the road back and is scheduled to play in the first event of the season in Mid-October which means he must be close to 100%. The fact is that no player drives as many fans as Tiger does even if he isn't what he once was, and the crowd is greatly important during Ryder Cups.
Recommendation: Love should pick Bubba only if Chappell or Moore don't win. If Chappell or Moore win then he should pick the winner. If neither of them win, and Bubba does really bad today, then he should go with Furyk.
