Bubba Watson remains a strong shout for the final captain's pick for the US Ryder Cup team, after the talented leftie, who was surprisingly not named in Davis Love III's first three captain's picks, was included in a practice session at Hazeltine on Monday. Davis Love is set to name his final pick on Sunday, and it looks like the captain will pick one of three players in Watson, Daniel Berger and Justin Thomas.
With 11 of the 12 players already named, eight through the rankings and three via captain's picks, speculation is rife over who Love will select as his final pick. Watson seems to be the obvious pick, considering he is currently the No.7 ranked player in the world, higher than any of the three captain's picks – Rickie Fowler, JB Holmes and Matt Kuchar – so far named.
However, Berger and Thomas also seem to be in with a shot, after the two golfers, along with Watson, were part of a practice session on Monday with US team members Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Brandt Snedeker, Jimmy Walker and Brooks Koepka.
The worry over Watson is that he is not really suited to pair up with any of the existing team members – at least that is the thought process, because otherwise he would have been picked automatically by Love – and what the two-time Masters champion will want to show, with these practice sessions, is that he can gel with the US team and play a team game.
"You hear Davis talk about chemistry and how players are going to be in a team setting, so when he leaves out someone ranked so highly it does seem like it's because the captain can't see where he fits in, with regard to pairings and stuff like that," Europe Ryder Cup stalwart Lee Westwood said last week.
Watson's record of 3-8-0, in his last three Ryder Cup appearances, also goes against him, and maybe Love thinks now is the perfect time to give one of Berger or Thomas a chance to impress. Berger is currently ranked No.16 in the world, while Thomas is 25, so going purely by world ranking, Watson is well ahead of his two rivals for the final Ryder Cup 2016 spot in the US team.
