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Ryder Cup pick hopefuls join team for practice Mon. at Hazeltine
It would seem U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III has somewhat telegraphed the identities of the three players he is considering for his final wild-card pick.
Bubba Watson, Justin Thomas and Daniel Berger joined some of the already-named 11 members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team — Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Brandt Snedeker, Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker — on Monday for an informal practice session at host Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minn.
What the practice session proved, or didn’t, to Love and his team is unclear. After all, the only thing in common with the Ryder Cup and that practice is the common golf course. However, it would seem Love and the team were trying to spy potential synergies between the players in attendance already on the team and those hoping to become a part of it.
Regardless of the criteria Love chooses to harp on for his pick, all three players have a reasonable case.
Watson is a two-time Ryder Cup player, albeit one with a miserable 3-8-0 record. He’s No. 7 in the Official World Golf Ranking and was No. 9 in the automatic qualifying process, just missing a spot. He hasn’t posted a top 10 since March.
Berger got his first PGA Tour win of his career in Memphis ahead of the U.S. Open. He has two top-10 finishes since that win, but he also has poor finishes in the final two majors of the year.
Thomas has been erratic throughout the summer, with two top-10 finishes and two missed cuts, both of which came in his last four events.
Watson, Berger and Thomas all have an opportunity starting Thursday to make an additional impression on Love when they compete in the PGA Tour’s season-ending and FedEx Cup playoff-concluding Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta. However, Love, when he added Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and J.B. Holmes to the team with the first three of his four captain’s picks, cautioned that the Tour Championship is not a four-round audition to make the squad.
When the event concludes, Love will have just a few hours to make his pick before announcing the 12th and final Ryder Cup team member during halftime of Sunday Night Football on NBC.
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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