Golf News: U.S. Ryder Cup Team Finalized, Includes Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bubba Watson

Tags:

United States captain Davis Love III finished picking his Ryder Cup team on Tuesday, adding four picks that included a rookie and a veteran who had previously qualified for every team since 1997.

The picks included Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker, Brandt Snedeker and Dustin Johnson.

Snedeker is one of four rookies on the team, while Johnson played extremely well over the last few weeks, finishing in the top-10 of two FedEx Cup playoff tournaments. Stricker made his third career Ryder Cup team.

Furyk had made each Ryder team since his debut in 1997, but missed out on a chance at qualifying after missing shots late at the U.S. Open and at Firestone that could have led to possible wins.

"I laid it out early on what I thought we needed and we stuck with it," Love said, according to the Associated Press. "I need Jim Furyk. I need Steve Stricker. The team will benefit from those guys being in the locker room, being in the team room. Then, you can't argue with the golf that Brandt and Dustin have been playing. I think they matched up well, and it really did kind of lay right out there for us."

Others who already qualified for the team due to the two-year points system include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Webb Simpson, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Zach Johnson, Keegan Bradley and Matt Kuchar.

"I think we're extremely deep this time, deeper than we've ever been. ... There was a lot of guys that played a lot of really good golf," Love said to the Associated Press. "You can analyze the numbers up and down and back and forth. It was tough to leave really anybody off."

Notable names who were left off the team were Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler, Bo Van Pelt, Nick Watney and Bill Haas.

Mahan has won two PGA Tour titles this year and Fowler had performed admirably as the first rookie ever picked to the team back in 2010.

The European team was finalized last week and includes Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari, Luke Donald, Peter Hanson, Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer and Lee Westwood.

The two captain's picks were Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts. Colsaerts is the only rookie on the Euro team.

Europe has been victorious in six of the last eight competitions, but has only won twice while playing in the United States in the past 20 years.

The Ryder Cup will be played at the Medinah Country Club in Illinois from Sept. 28-30. 

© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.