Fowler, Holmes, Kuchar earn Ryder Cup picks, Bubba snub

Omnisports

September 12, 2016 1:13 AM

Rickie Fowler, JB Holmes and Matt Kuchar have earned captain's picks for the US Ryder Cup team, Davis Love III has confirmed. Bubba Watson was overlooked.

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Davis Love III has named Rickie Fowler, JB Holmes and Matt Kuchar as three of his four captains picks for the United States Ryder Cup team.

Love, who will announce the final member of his 12-man side after next week's Tour Championship, revealed the additions to the Team USA line-up in a news conference at Hazeltine, the venue for the latest edition of golf's showpiece team event.

Fowler, Holmes and Kuchar join Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Jimmy Walker, Brooks Koepka, Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson in gaining selection. However, there is no place, as of yet, for two-time Masters champion and world number seven Bubba Watson.

The Ryder Cup gets under way on September 30.

World number nine Fowler had been considered a virtual certainty to make Love's team, despite missing out on a place in the Tour Championship on Sunday as he slipped to 31st in the FedEx Cup standings.

The winner of four events on the PGA or European Tours since May 2015, including last year's Players Championship, Fowler is one of the most recognisable figures in the game and boasts top-five finishes in all four majors.

However, he has failed to win a match in two previous Ryder Cup appearances - a record he will be determined to improve on.

Holmes finished tied-fourth at the BMW Championship to advance his claims for selection. His only previous Ryder Cup appearance came in 2008 at Valhalla, as part of the last US team to triumph.

Kuchar, a popular figure on the PGA Tour, is set for a fourth successive appearance in the competition.

Yet Watson, who finished above Fowler, Holmes and Kuchar in the US Ryder Cup points standings and was the highest-ranked player not to secure an automatic berth, has been overlooked.

The flamboyant left-hander's form in recent months has been scratchy, while his Ryder Cup record (won three, lost eight, halved none) is poor.

Watson must now hope he can do enough to earn the last remaining place at Hazeltine, with the Tour Championship representing a final chance for he and others to impress.

The US are seeking to break a run of three successive Ryder Cup defeats, Love having captained his country the last time the event was played on US soil in 2012 as Europe staged a remarkable fightback to triumph at Medinah.

Thomas Pieters, Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer were selected as picks by European captain Darren Clarke last month, the inclusion of the Belgian taking the number of rookies in the defending champions' team to six.

With one place in Love's party still to be decided, Koepka is currently the only American rookie.

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