On Tuesday, September 2, the European and United States Ryder Cup teams were finalized. The European captain, Paul McGinley, and American captain, Tom Watson, had three picks each. McGinley chose Stephen Gallacher, Ian Poulter, and Lee Westwood. Watson chose Keegan Bradley, Hunter Mahan, and Webb Simpson. In addition, McGinley today announced that Padraig Harrington, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Jose Maria Olazabal would be vice-captains, joining Des Smyth and Sam Torrance in assisting the Irishman. So far, Watson's assistant captains are Raymond Floyd, Andy North, and Steve Stricker.
I was certain that Gallacher and Poulter would be chosen, but the third pick could have gone to three players in my opinion: Westwood, Luke Donald, or Francesco Molinari. In the end, the captain chose the eight-time Ryder Cup player because he will provide a veteran presence and has the ability to partner different players due to the fact that he's played with nine different partners in the Ryder Cups dating back to 1997. Donald had a strong April and May, but has not had his usual consistent season. Molinari has had a great season so far, with a ton of world ranking points earned, but no wins which probably cost him a pick; the Italian has only won three times on the European Tour and that's clearly an underachievement.
On the U.S. side, I was confident that Watson was going to select Bradley and Mahan, but the third pick was up in the air. Bill Haas, Chris Kirk, Simpson, and Brandt Snedeker were all in consideration. In the end, Simpson's record in the 2012 edition proved to be too hard to overlook, plus his potential partnership with Bubba Watson gave him an advantage over the other candidates.
With only 23 days until the first ball is struck at the PGA Centenary Course at the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland, the excitement level is already pretty high among players and fans. I, for one, cannot wait because the Ryder Cup is, without a doubt, the greatest sporting event in the world.
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