Who are the 2016 Ryder Cup Captains Picks?

Who was selected as Ryder Cup Captains this year?

Monday morning, Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III announced Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and J.B. Holmes as three of his four picks for the 2016 Ryder Cup team.

The three picks came as a little shock to most in the golfing world. Three picks that have been Phil Mickelson and company hinted to have been decided for weeks. The picks could even be considered a popularity contest, rather than who is playing the best.

Three picks have zero combined wins over the course of the 2016-17 season, pushing many in the golf world to question the picking of household names, rather than going for the rookie selections that could provide a future hope as is well-documented by stats.

As highlighted by this tweet from Justin Ray of Golf Channel.

Fowler has competed in two Ryder Cups, with Hazeltine National being Fowler’s third. His previous Ryder Cup experiences have seen him have underwhelming performances with a 0-3-5 record. Fowler has won zero Ryder Cup matches. Zero. The most matches without a Ryder Cup point in history. Fowler’s locker room popularity seems to be the connecting dots for his pick. Especially after his final round at The Barclays, and missing the Tour Championship.

Kuchar brings some of the best play amongst the three captains picks, after winning the bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Kuchar also has a 4-5-2 Ryder Cup record that includes a 2-1-0 mark four years ago at Medinah (one of the most heart breaking Ryder Cups in recent memory).

Holmes hasn’t been in a Ryder Cup since the 2008 edition at Valhalla golf club in Louisville, Kentucky. In that Ryder Cup Holmes went 2-0-1. Holmes seemingly fits the Hazeltine National setup that is rumored to be coming in at 7,600 yards. Holmes is currently second on the PGA Tour in driving distance and is coming off of a top-four finish at the BMW Championship on Sunday.

Digging a little deeper into the stats, one can find that Kuchar and Fowler were the two highest non-automatic qualifiers in the stroked gained total stat on the PGA Tour.

Kuchar is seventh at 1.394.

Fowler is eighth at 1.378.

While this stands at a single stat, this is one of the most telling stats in the golfing world and gives insight on the level of play over the course of the entire season. Arguing that two guys sitting in the top ten in strokes gained don’t deserve a spot could be a stretch, but it is alarming when taking a close look at records in Ryder Cup play and the form that Fowler has shown.

The picks are safe, but they seem to defeat the purpose of the task force, and new blood Ryder Cup movement that has been so loudly voiced. Picking the same guys over and over is near insanity and is expecting a new result with the same process.

This group of guys has been horrible in the Ryder Cup, losing seven of the last eleven Cups. Hard to argue picking for a similar team again, but Love did it.

Many flags and questions have been raised. Hopefully Love’s picks don’t underperform, losing the fourth straight Ryder Cup.