Simon Lewis
Could there have been a better location for Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin to have named his four American wild cards than at the New York Stock Exchange?
Three weeks out from the biennial battle between the USA and Europe, Pavin took a punt on a world number one without a win in 2010 and less than 12 months out from a marriage-shattering sex scandal, got bullish in a bear market with two unspectacular veterans and gambled on a kid without a professional victory.
No wonder European captain Colin Montgomerie expressed his “delight” at the inclusion of Tiger Woods and laid out the welcome mat at Celtic Manor to him and fellow captain’s picks Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson and Rickie Fowler.
Yet what, realistically, could Pavin have done otherwise?
Of those realistic contenders who failed to get Pavin’s vote, only JB Holmes and Anthony Kim had any previous Ryder Cup experience having both made their debuts in Kentucky two years ago. They were winning debutants too, both emerging from Valhalla as American heroes in the 16.5-11.5 defeat of Nick Faldo’s team.
Big-hitting southerner Holmes posted two wins and a halved match in the Bluegrass State and finished tied for 12th with Woods in Boston at the weekend but his prodigious distance off the tee often comes with penalties attached and that, along with a missed cut at The Barclays two weeks ago may well have cost him his place.
Having failed to impress on his recent return to action following thumb surgery which saw Kim slip out of the automatic qualifying spots, handing the 2008 hero a place would have raised more eyebrows than Pavin’s actual picks but Lucas Glover and Sean O’Hair can count themselves unlucky with probably more justifiable claims to inclusion than Fowler at least.
Glover, the 2009 US Open champion, lost his automatic spot when he missed the cut at last month’s PGA and finished higher in the US points table at 10th than Fowler’s 20th place. Missing the cut at The Barclays, though, definitely counted against him while O'Hair, acknowledged as one of America’s brightest hopes, has had a poor run-in to Tuesday’s selection D-Day, missing cuts at both the PGA and last weekend’s Deutsche Bank and turning in a mediocre tie for 31st at The Barclays.
Zach Johnson and Cink represent safe bets in this particular market with a major win apiece and their solid, dependable play will provide Pavin with considerable balance in his pairing considerations to counter the more erratic types like Bubba Watson, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Woods.
Quite where Rickie Fowler fits into Pavin’s thinking is the biggest question of all.
Like O’Hair at The Barclays, the 21-year-old finshed well off the pace at the Deutsche Bank and he faces a fiery debut at Celtic Manor that will represent his most intense golfing experience by far. The annual PGA Tour stop in Phoenix, Arizona, is by far the most raucous tournament of the year in the States and if the colourful Fowler couldn’t get it done there, deciding to lay up on the par-5 15th when he trailed eventual winner Hunter Mahan by a stroke, how’s he going to react in the Welsh mist amid the drama that always unfolds at a Ryder Cup?
We can only wait and see and maybe, though, the more rookies the merrier for Pavin. Of those selections with any Ryder Cup experience, only Mahan, with two wins, three halves, and no defeats from his debut at Valhalla in 2008, has a winning record overall whereas Woods, Mickelson, Furyk and Cink et al, all have losing records against the Europeans.
At least the new kids have not tasted defeat.
