Watson picks his wild cards

Tom Watson picked Hunter Mahan, Keegan Bradley and Webb Simpson as the three wildcards to the US Ryder Cup team.

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Tom Watson

Report by Anand Datla

 

American Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson dealt with a few delicate decisions before finally naming his three choices to complete the team for the upcoming event. Watson chose Webb Simpson, Keegan Bradley and Hunter Mahan to provide much needed experience and wisdom to a team that is set to miss Tiger Woods. Perhaps, Chris Kirk will be the one who is most disappointed, after he nursed some hope, riding on his victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

 

The nine men who gained automatic qualification were Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth, Matt Kuchar, Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Zach Johnson, Patrick Reed, Jim Furyk and Jimmy Walker. Bradley and Mahan were widely discussed as possibilities, but the choice to bring in Simpson could be a topic that is discussed at some length in the coming days.

 

“Experience was big,” explained Watson. “All three players have an even record or a winning record in the Ryder Cup. I have a fundamental belief in our team and more importantly our players believe they can win the Ryder Cup.” Watson also called many of the players that could not get on the dozen member team to commiserate with them.

 

“The most important thing that he brings to this is his unbridled passion to play for the Ryder Cup team,” said Watson, explaining his reasons for picking Bradley. “This is a redemption year for a lot of guys,” said Bradley. Mahan has a strong match play record, a fact that was not lost on Watson. “One of the things you look at is how you play match play and Hunter Mahan has really shined,” said Watson. “Match play is a little different than medal play, you play the course and you play the man.”

 

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