The world’s hottest player and the two greatest golfers of the generation will be joining the U.S. Ryder Cup team. No surprises there, eh? American team captain Jim Furyk announced the three additions to the team on Tuesday evening and you know them by their first names: Bryson, Phil and Tiger. Their qualifications are below.
Tiger Woods
U.S. Ryder Cup team record: 13-14-2 (4-1-1 singles)
Qualifications: Arguably the greatest golfer of all time. Fourteen-time major champ. A freshly-fused fiery force. What more qualifications do you want? This is Tiger Woods.
Recent form: Missing a win, sure. But Woods has been solid or better for the majority of the year. He’s made 13 of his last 14 cuts, has three top-six finishes in his last six starts and contended for the two most recent major titles. More importantly, he’s ascended from No. 1,199 to No. 26 in the world. Not a bad climb for less than a year’s work.
Phil Mickelson
U.S. Ryder Cup team record: 18-20-7 (5-5-1 singles)
Qualifications: Lefty has been on, like, a bajillion of these teams. He’s a de facto vice captain, big-time locker room force and master ping-pong player. Plus he’s one of the world’s all-time legendary money game match play maniacs. Oh, and there are the 43 Tour wins and five majors. Sure, his Ryder Cup record isn’t actually that great. But Phil worked his way to the edge of automatic qualifying! He’d have been impossible to leave off.
Recent form: Heck, how recent do you want to get? His most recent round came at yesterday’s Dell Technologies Championship, and it was a doozy: eight-under 63, the best round in the field. Top-15 finishes in the last two tournaments suggests an upward trend for Mickelson, who started the year red-hot but cooled over the summer.
Bryson DeChambeau
U.S. Ryder Cup team record: 0-0-0
Qualifications: World No. 7. Winner of four events in fourteen months. World’s hottest player. Big-time patriot (he attended the last Ryder Cup as a fan!). Modern revolutionary. Did we mention World No. 7? That would make him the fourth-highest on the U.S. team. This 24-year-old appears to be here to stay.
Recent form: Again, your form can’t get much better than winning the two most recent golf tournaments against the best players in the world. Bryson DeChambeau has arrived.
