A couple of things happened on Sunday with regards to the Ryder Cup – Europe got a sure-shot member of the team in the form of Jamie Donaldson, while America seems to have got one of their three wildcards pinned down in Hunter Mahan.
The American, who is considered as a match play expert having won the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in 2012 and finishing runner-up last year, would have been on top of captain Tom Watson’s mind, but he wasn’t having a particularly good season so far.
Ever since he withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational with a sore lower back in March, Mahan struggled with his form and the first top-20 finish he posted thereafter was at the WGC-Bridgestone earlier this month. But it was evident that his game was on an upswing as he finished tied-seventh at the PGA Championship the week after, before winning The Barclays on Sunday.
Most Ryder Cup fans will remember Mahan as the man who lost the all-important match to Graeme McDowell in 2010 at Celtic Manor, but he has a 56 per cent winning record in eight matches, which is a very decent number for an American in recent years.
So, he has the experience of withstanding the unique pressures that is so intrinsic to the biennial competition, likes the mano-a-mano version of golf’s formats, is in good form, and is healthy – just the man Team USA need right now.
That leaves Watson with the choice of two players. Keegan Bradley and Jason Dufner would have been shoo-ins, but Bradley is struggling with his form, while Dufner has shut shop because of a neck injury.
Bradley was a revelation for Team USA in 2012 at Medinah with his unbridled passion and he paired very well with Phil Mickelson. I have a feeling Watson will go for him, and if Dufner can somehow convince the skipper about his health, that would be the duo joining Mahan in Gleneagles.
In case Dufner does not get better, chances are Brandt Snedeker, with his three top-15 finishes before missing the cut at The Barclays, will get the nod.
Over to Europe, and unless Ian Poulter and Luke Donald do something miraculous this week at the Deutsche Bank Championship and barge into the automatic list of qualifiers, captain Paul McGinley will have to pick them up purely on the basis of their past performances. With a winning record of 80 per cent, Poulter’s numbers are the best of all current players in both teams, and Donald is not too far behind with 70 per cent.
So, McGinley is really left with one choice, and that would be between McDowell (who could drop out of the top nine after deciding not to play this week and spend the time with his new-born daughter and wife), Lee Westwood and Stephen Gallacher.
Unless Gallacher finishes inside the top-two this week at the Italian Open, the choice would be between him and Westwood. And as much as the Scotsman brings to the table being a local hero and his consistency this year, it would be difficult for him to earn McGinley’s nod ahead of the Englishman.
And if Gallacher does displace McDowell, Westwood will have to sit out of his first Ryder Cup since making his debut in 1997 in favour of the Northern Irishman.
