Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau were selected as Captain’s Picks by Jim Furyk for the United States team that will play Europe in the 42nd Ryder Cup later this month on the http://Albatros Course at http://Le Golf National outside Paris.
All three grew up playing golf in California—Woods in Cypress, Mickelson in San Diego and DeChambeau in Clovis.
“It’s incredible, it really is, to look back at the start of the year and now to have accomplished a goal like that,” said Woods, who came back this season after his fourth back surgery.
“To be a part of this team, and now to be a player is just … beyond special.”
The 42-year-old Woods will be playing in his eighth Ryder Cup, but the first since 2012, but has only a 13-17-3 record, including 4-1-2 in singles.
For Mickelson, 48, it will be a record 12th Ryder Cup—or every one since 1995—and he has an 18-20-7 record, including 8-5-1 in singles.
“This is mostly likely my last chance to go over to Europe and to be a part of a winning U.S. team in Europe,” Mickelson said. “We haven’t done that in 25 years.
“I set out this year on really a strong commitment and journey to get on the team. I got off to a great start this year. It’s been a really good year, and although I fell just shy of making it on points, it feels great to be a part of this team and serve this team in any way I can.”
DeChambeau, 24, barely missed one of the eight automatic qualifying spots on the team, but was impossible for Furyk to pass up for his first Ryder Cup because of his brilliant play, winning three times in his last nine starts.
Included are victories the last two weeks in The Northern Trust and the Dell Technologies Championship, joining Vijay Singh of Fiji (2008) as the only players to win the first two events of the FedEx Cup lead, taking the lead in the point standings.
“I wanted to be a part of this experience so badly that I worked twice as hard,” said DeChambeau, who has become a regular practice round partner of Woods. “And it showed, and it paid off.”
Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed earned the first eight spots in the team in qualifying over the last two seasons.
Furyk has one more Captain’s Pick to announce on Monday after the BMW Championship, the third of four events in the playoffs, and right now the favorite for that last spot is Tony Finau.
The United States has a 26-13-2 record in the Ryder Cup, but hasn’t won in Europe since a 15-13 victory in 1993 at http://The Belfry in Warwickshire, England.
