In our previous article about the upcoming Ryder Cup that will take place at the Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chakas, Minnesota we took a look at the players of Team Europe. This time we will go over the players of the American team and the expectations that surround it.
For this 41st edition of the Ryder Cup the captain of the the American Team will be Davis Love III. Team USA needs to end Europe’s winning streak and its supremacy in the last 10 editions. Europe has won the last three editions of the Ryder Cup and eight of the last 10.
For team U.S.A an important change from 2014 is that the captain now gets to choose four players instead of three and eight will qualify based on a predetermined criteria.
For the American team the eight players that already qualified: Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Jimmy Walker, Brooks Koepka, Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson.
Love has so far chosen three experienced players as wild cards. The picks of the captain are: 27-year-old Rickie Fowler, who already has played in two previous Ryder Cups; 34-year-old JB Holmes, who already won the Ryder Cup with the American Team; and 38-year-old Matt Kuchar, who played in 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in Wales.
The last player to make the team was Ryan Moore, whose selection was announced on September 25 after much speculation in the media and a shroud of secrecy from Love, who opted to reveal his pick until the very last moment.
Jim Furyk, Tom Lehman, Steve Stricker and Tiger Woods were chosen as Assistant captains.
A problem facing both teams is that even the good players struggle when faced with the challenge of playing at the Ryder Cup. It’s somewhat of a riddle to foresee how a player will fare in a tournament where match play is decided by just one round of golf, instead of the typical four.
However, the biggest concern for team U.S.A is that most of the players that qualified have had a struggling year and those who were playing well at the start of the season are not at the top of the game right now, with the only exception being Moore. The Washingtonian is playing some of his best golf of the year lately (he won the John Deere Classic on August 14 and he has finished in the top 10 in four of his last six tournaments). Love hopes Moore can continue his good play in Minnesota to help Team U.S.A claim victory for the first time in eight years and earn back some much-needed bragging rights.
