Never mind Paul Casey’s broken heart or Justin Rose’s crushed spirit, there are 10 or so Americans in Massachusetts this weekend desperate to avoid similar emotions.
USA Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin will next Tuesday announce his four picks to complete the team for Celtic Manor in Wales this October 1-3 which will be charged with defending the trophy his predecessor Paul Azinger won back from the Europeans at Valhalla two years ago.
Which means the American golfers wanting to board the flight across the pond have four rounds at the Deutsche Bank Championship this Labour Day Holiday weekend to impress
English duo Casey and Rose did not do enough to warrant inclusion in Colin Montgomerie’s European team finalised last Sunday and there are Americans of similar calibre and better vying for the four berths at the disposal of captain Pavin.
Chief among them at TPC Boston when the first round gets under way on Friday will be Tiger Woods, the beleaguered world number one.
Woods is without a win in 2010 having returned to the game in April after his personal problems became worldwide news last November and forced him into an indefinite leave of absence that lasted until the Masters.
In addition to his divorce from Elin Nordegren, which was finalised and made public late last month, Woods’ problems have been professional as well as private. Having split from long-time swing coach Hank Haney soon after the Masters and worked alone for much of the summer, the 14-time major winner was seen practising with Sean Foley ahead of the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits and though he did not figure there, his outing last week at The Barclays produced his best round of the year, an opening 65, and his first event featuring two rounds in the 60s since the Memorial in early June. That contributed to his lowest score of 2010, seven under par, and barring a complete return to some of his woeful form this summer, Pavin would be a fool to ignore Woods from his chosen quartet.
Not only is Woods still the world number one, just, he has in the already qualified Steve Stricker found a fourballs and foursomes partner he is completely comfortable with, as evidenced at last year’s Presidents Cup in San Francisco when the American pair won all four of their matches against Greg Norman’s Internationals.
Consider it a done deal.
That leaves three places up for grabs with a number of top-flight names in contention, including major champions Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink and Lucas Glover and rising stars including Anthony Kim, Sean O’Hair and Rickie Fowler.
O’Hair was unlucky not to make Azinger’s team but acquitted himself well for Fred Couples at last year’s Presidents Cup when he trounced Ernie Els 6 and 4 in singles play and won a foursomes point with Phil Mickelson.
Former Masters champion Zach Johnson has been in solid form in 2010, finishing third at the PGA Championship and climbing into the world top 20. Yet his one previous appearance came at the K Club in 2006 when he was washed away in the emotional tide of a singles match against Darren Clarke while his team play produced 1.5 points from three matches.
Cink, meanwhile, has gone backwards since his Open win in 2009, falling to 36th in the world with only three top-10s this year.
Glover, like O’Hair, is unspectacular yet has a better record than both those veterans and could prove a dependable foil for the likes of the more erratic Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bubba Watson.
Fowler would also fall into the “unpredictable” category. Still without a win, he nevertheless stood 20th in the US points table and has two runner-up finishes from his rookie year so far.
If Kim was fit he would be a shoo-in given his performance at Valhalla in 2008, when he and fellow rookie Hunter Mahan stole the show along with the big-hitting Holmes.
Mahan has made the Celtic Manor team by right, but Kim will pay for his poor form since returning from thumb surgery in August, starting with a tie for 76th at Firestone in that no-cut event followed by three missed cuts.
A good week in Boston from the young rookie Fowler, then, could well see the golfer with the surfer sensibilities ride a wave into Pavin’s good books and join Woods, Zach Johnson and O’Hair in the wild card column for Celtic Manor.
