In an hour special on the Golf Channel on Tuesday, U.S. Ryder Cup Team Captain, Tom Watson named Keegan Bradley, Hunter Mahan and Webb Simpson to complete the 12-man roster.
There were no real surprises in his three picks. Bradley was one of the bright spots in 2012 at Medinah, when he was paired with Mickelson to win three points. He finished No. 13 on the points list and didn’t hide his desire to be on the team again this year.
Mahan was a member of the losing team at Celtic Manor in 2010. He is seeking redemption after losing the deciding match to Graeme McDowell and missing a chance to be on the team in 2012. Mahan has had a good summer and his win at The Barclays punched his ticket to Scotland.
Three players were vying for the last spot. Brandt Snedeker, Webb Simpson and Chris Kirk all made strong arguments for inclusion onto the team. Snedeker missed part of the season with injury and has not returned to form. Even though Kirk won the Deutsche Bank and jumped ahead of Simpson on the points list, Captain Watson chose experience. Simpson is good buddies with Bubba Watson and they paired well together in the team matches in 2012.
Team USA will meet Team Europe at Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, Scotland September 23-28.
Pressure has been building for the Americans as they have only won two of the past nine Ryder Cup matches. At the last meeting two years ago, Team USA took a four point advantage into the singles and lost 8 ½ points on Sunday to lose the cup 14 ½-13 ½.
This is the second time Watson has captained the U.S. squad. His 1993 team beat the Europeans 15-13 at the Belfry in England. It was the last time the Americans won the cup on European soil.
Watson is without some key members heading to Scotland later this month. Tiger Woods and Jason Dufner are on the bench with injuries and Dustin Johnson is on a leave of absence from competitive golf.
Even without three of the best players in the world available to him, Watson has a formidable team. The Europeans, however, have four of the top-five-ranked players in the world on their squad and are playing a home game.
They will be the favorites heading into the matches, but the underdog has had a history of winning Sam Ryder’s Cup in recent history.
Can Captain Watson’s boys bring the cup back to the U.S. this time?