Davis Love III glosses over omission of Bubba Watson from Ryder Cup picks
Monday 12 September 2016 20:01, UK
Davis Love III refused to be drawn on his reasons for overlooking Bubba Watson after unveiling three of his four captain's picks for the Ryder Cup later this month.
Love added Rickie Fowler, JB Holmes and Matt Kuchar to the eight automatic qualifiers for the US team at Hazeltine National, with Watson a glaring omission despite being ranked above all three in both the world rankings and the final Ryder Cup points table.
The two-time Masters champion, currently ranked seventh in the world, remains the firm favourite to be awarded the final wildcard, but he will need to impress at next week's Tour Championship - the final event of the FedExCup Play-Offs.
Love insisted that he and his Ryder Cup backroom staff will be considering every possible option from the elite 30-man field in Atlanta, with the likes of Ryan Moore, Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger bidding to force their way into the captain's plans.
But the US skipper also urged the remaining contenders for his final pick to focus on their own games at East Lake rather than become embroiled in a "scoring contest" in the PGA Tour season finale.
When asked why Watson did not make the initial three-man list, Love said: "We looked at a lot of guys that are in the Tour Championship and some guys that aren't, and we got a long two weeks ahead of us.
"I'd say the players that are playing in The Tour Championship need to try to win and not think about Ryder Cup points. I think that's the biggest thing I've told several players is it's not a scoring contest for who gets the Ryder Cup pick.
"I'm going to talk to these 11 guys now that we have 11; we've got a gameplan, a strategy, and we're going to work on that over the next two weeks and announce our pick next Sunday night based on what fits best for our team, not really who shoots the lowest scores in the last tournament.
"We're a sports team and we have to draft the right player for the right position. There's going to be a lot of stats and a lot of things to look at. But making our pairings, fitting into the team, doing all the little things you're asked to do, these three guys fill incredible roles and a lot of different roles."
Love also admitted the input of Tiger Woods had been crucial in the team's preparation, with Love having described the former world No 1 as the unofficial "tactician" for the US side.
Woods, who announced last week that he intends to return to competitive golf at next month's Safeway Open, will be one of Love's assistant captains at Hazeltine along with Tom Lehman, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk.
"Tiger looks at things from maybe a higher viewpoint than us sometimes," Love added. "He's helping us prepare and to think about the golf course. A lot of people would look at the scorecard and say 'It's a long course, we need big hitters', but Tiger looks at it a lot differently.
"Tiger over the last two to three weeks has made us think really hard not only about pairings but about other things that we need to look for in our players."
