The 2014 U.S. Ryder Cup team that will attempt to wrest the coveted gold chalice from Europe later this month at Gleneagles in Scotland is set.
After months of anticipation and some recent volatile jockeying for position by players competing for one of the final three spots on the team, U.S. captain Tom Watson on Tuesday night finally announced his wildcard captain’s picks to round out the team of 12.
Watson, making the announcements inside the “Saturday Night Live” Studio 8H, selected Keegan Bradley, Hunter Mahan and Webb Simpson.
The three join the nine U.S. players who were already qualified on points — Bubba Watson, Rickie Fowler, Jim Furyk, Jimmy Walker, Phil Mickelson, Matt Kuchar, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed and Zach Johnson.
Of those nine, Walker, Spieth and Reed are Ryder Cup rookies. So it was no accident that all three of Watson’s picks have previous Ryder Cup experience.
Bradley was 3-1 in 2012 at Medinah, where the U.S. lost a five-point Sunday lead in singles, Simpson was 2-2 in 2012 and Mahan is 3-2-3 in two Ryder Cups (2008 and 2010).
“Experience was big factor,’’ Watson said. “All three players have either an even (.500) record or a winning record playing on the Ryder Cup, and those positive thoughts go a long way.’’
The players Watson left out included Chris Kirk, who won the Deutsche Bank in Boston on Monday; Ryan Moore, who finished 11th in the Ryder Cup points standings; Brendon Todd, who finished 12th; and Brandt Snedeker, who has a close relationship with Watson, but missed the cut in each of his last two starts. Watson estimated he made seven or eight calls to players who did not make the team.
Bradley, who had strong success in 2012, and Mahan, who won The Barclays two weeks ago at Ridgewood Country Club, were considered virtual locks as Watson picks. Simpson was more in question considering his inconsistent year.
“Keegan is the epitome of someone who wanted to be on the team,’’ Watson said. “He wanted to make the team so bad. The amount of pressure he put on himself is one of reasons I picked him. He can hit it a long way, he can go real low and he certainly teams up great with Phil Mickelson. Most important is his unbridled passion to play on the Ryder Cup team.
“Keegan has the kind of desire that can carry our team in a big way, the same way [Europe’s Ian] Poulter has the ability to carry their team a long way.’’
Bradley said the call from Watson was “one of the best moments of my career, because it was scary.’’
He, too, spoke of how much the 2012 loss to Europe hurt — so much so he still has the unpacked bag of Ryder Cup clothes in the bedroom of his Florida home.
“This is redemption year for lot of the guys who were on the last team,’’ Bradley said.
Mahan recognized the timely nature of his win at Ridgewood, because he was not perceived to be high on Watson’s list until then.
“Winning is everything in golf, and I couldn’t have won a bigger tournament at the right time,’’ Mahan said.
Mahan, who suffered a crushing singles loss to Graeme McDowell in 2010 at Celtic Manor in a crucial match, also spoke of wanting to make amends.
“Redemption is going to be a strong word with this team,’’ Mahan said. “Europe has flat kicked our butt last 10 or 15 years. We’re extremely motivated and we have a lot to prove with each player.’’
Watson said his Simpson choice came to him on Tuesday morning as “a revelation’’ based on his performance on the 2012 team (he was 2-2).
“It was one of the greatest calls I’ve ever gotten,’’ Simpson said.
Simpson, too, mentioned redemption as a motivating factor, calling the Ryder Cup at Medinah “a week I’ll never forget.’’
“I felt like we were going to win; all the guys were playing so well that it was a shock on Sunday afternoon [to lose],’’ Simpson said. “I’ll never forget the feeling I had watching the other team celebrate. It wasn’t a good feeling.’’
Europe has won the last two Ryder Cups and five of the last six. The only U.S. victory since 1999 came in 2008 at Valhalla. In 1993, the last time the U.S. won on foreign soil, Watson was captain.
“I think we’re going to go in there with attitude that we’re going to make amends for 2012,’’ Watson said. “[Europe] has got a great team on paper, with four of top five in world. They’ve got Rory McIlroy, they’ve got all these stars on their team right now. We’re going to go in there under the radar. Nobody’s going to expect us to win because of that. But I fully expect us to win.’’