If you pay attention to subliminal messages, things don't look good for Bubba Watson in a Ryder Cup context. Not only was the two-times Masters champion surprisingly omitted from Davis Love III's first three wildcard picks for the United States team, there wasn't much from the captain to suggest Watson will get the nod when it comes to the fourth.
Love didn't name Watson at all when setting out his plans for Rickie Fowler, JB Holmes and Matt Kuchar at Hazeltine. He completely played down the notion that big hitting will be essential in Minnesota. Perhaps most surprisingly, Love appeared to minimise what impact performance in the upcoming Tour Championship will have on his last selection. It raises the question as to why the USA have accepted this elongated picks process at all.
Love was asked what reaction Watson had to not being named this week. “I’ve talked to a few guys but I haven’t talked to everybody,” said Love. “I’m still in that process.” Watson isn’t some two-bit golfer scrapping for status, he is entitled to be kept fully in the loop.
Perhaps most tellingly, Love emphasised the significance of team chemistry. “Our guys play a lot of best-ball matches in practice rounds and at home,” he said. “We have a lot of guys in this 11 that have played a lot of golf together, practice rounds and fun.
“I asked them: ‘Eat dinner together, hang out together, play practice rounds together.’ They all get along very, very well.”
Despite having Fowler as a key ally, Watson is known as something of a lone wolf. Whether unfairly or otherwise, when 103 PGA Tour players were anonymously surveyed as to which golfer they would be least likely to assist in a car park fight, Watson topped the poll.
And yet, a significant element of this seems unfair. Not running with the pack shouldn’t be a crime, with Watson perfectly content with who he is and what he stands for. Watson remains No7 in the world rankings. He has tournament victories to his name in three consecutive years. His playing CV is already such that he should be legitimately regarded as a future USA captain.
Watson has struggled in singles and foursomes in previous Ryder Cups but that isn’t out of tune at all with the general problems of the USA team. Foursomes doesn’t immediately seem like Watson’s forte but his propensity for moments of astonishing brilliance – a certain play-off shot at the Masters is a case in point – renders him a worthy team member.
Watson's overall point percentage return is superior both to Fowler's and Jim Furyk's, with speculation persisting that the latter of that pair could be a USA participant for what would be the 10th time. At Gleneagles in 2014, Watson was a tad unlucky; in two sessions he found himself against the European duo of Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose, who produced some of the finest pairs golf ever seen in the event.
This may be irrelevant to Love in the cold reality of having to win but it is also difficult to argue against the Ryder Cup being a better scene for Watson’s involvement. He brings colour and attention. With pink driver and extroverted style, Watson is actually an individual who is valuable for the promotion of this sport. He is instantly recognisable.
Watson cares passionately about representing his country. He was a huge advocate of Olympic golf and the 37-year-old used these pages in April to offer a fascinating assessment of why the USA have regularly fallen short in the Ryder Cup. Watson believes so much focus is placed upon making that team that when it actually comes to taking on Europe, energy and attention have been lost.
Notwithstanding the strange nuances of the FedEx Cup, it would seem impossible for Watson to win it from a current placing of 24th. If that play-off series is valuable to Love at all, Justin Thomas is worthy of wildcard attention as the top-ranked American not currently named for Hazeltine. Gary Woodland and Kevin Na are also ranked above Watson in this format, which concludes at the Tour Championship from Thursday week.
“My whole goal this year was the Ryder Cup and the Olympics,” said Watson. “That’s all I cared about the whole year was making those two events.”
Bookmakers still regard Watson as the favourite to earn the final US place. We can, however, say with certainty that Love his clear doubts about that scenario transpiring. It is the kind of call that can define a captaincy.
(Guardian service)
