Ryder Cup: Davis Love III names United States wildcards

 

Ryder Cup

  • Venue: Medinah, Chicago
  • Date: 28-30 September

Coverage: Live commentary on BBC Radio 5 live; daily text commentaries on BBC Sport website

United States captain Davis Love III has named Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker and Steve Stricker as his four Ryder Cup wildcards.

Furyk, 42, will be playing in his eighth Ryder Cup while Stricker, 45, has played twice and Johnson, 28, once. Snedeker, 33, will make his debut.

"There's four great players we have picked that bring a lot to the team, but it was a tough call," Love said.

US Ryder Cup wildcards

Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson (age 28)

World ranking: 14

Ryder Cups: 1 (1 point won, 4 lost)

2012 earnings : $2,910,060 (1 PGA Tour win)

Jim Furyk

Jim Furyk (age 42)

World ranking: 30

Ryder Cups: 7 (10½-17½)

2012 earnings: $2,847,805 (0 PGA Tour wins)

Brandt Snedeker

Brandt Snedeker (age 32)

World ranking : 18

Ryder Cups: 0

2012 earnings: $3,512,939 (1 PGA Tour win)

Steve Stricker

Steve Stricker (age 45)

World ranking: 10

Ryder Cups : 2 (3½-3½)

2012 earnings: $3,210,021 (1 PGA Tour win)

The US play holders Europe at Medinah near Chicago from 28-30 September.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson spearhead the American challenge, with Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar the other automatic qualifiers.

Hunter Mahan, Rickie Fowler and Nick Watney were in contention for wildcard places but missed out.

Love said he chose Stricker and Furyk to add some experience to a team which has four Ryder Cup rookies.

"We needed experience, Jim is one of the most consistent players on the tour and one of the most respected," said the captain.

"Stricker has been the best player in my mind on tour the last five or six years. He's another guy that pairs well with anybody and another great putter, and he's somebody I really trust on and off the course - he's been a great asset to me already getting prepared for this day."

Stricker is regarded as an ideal partner for 14-time major winner Woods, while Furyk, whose first Ryder Cup was in 1997, is considered compatible with anyone.

Furyk said: "I've had the opportunity to play in quite a few Ryder Cups but Davis has been a good friend, someone we all respect and look up to.

"It'll be fun playing for one of the guys that I've played a lot of years on the PGA Tour with. I'm looking forward to it, I couldn't be more excited."

Stricker added: "It's a tremendous lot of fun trying to get that one common goal and win that cup back. It's what we're all appearing for and I'm looking forward to it."

The 48-year-old Love, who played on six Ryder Cup teams from 1993-2004, will have four assistant captains in Fred Couples, Mike Hulbert, Scott Verplank and Jeff Sluman.

European skipper Jose Maria Olazabal made England's Ian Poulter and Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts as his two wildcard picks.

The 10 players who qualified by right were Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Graeme McDowell, Paul Lawrie, Francesco Molinari, Luke Donald, Lee Westwood, Sergio Garcia, Peter Hanson and Martin Kaymer.

Europe have beaten the US in four of the past five competitions.