<img alt="" src="https://secure.cloud-ingenuity.com/264845.png" style="display:none;">

8/21 Ryder Cup-date

Hello golf fans worldwide! We hope that your coffee is strong and your week is short.

coffee-golf-e1421325404711

Since both 2018 Ryder Cup Captains endorse Power Tee, we figured we would give you a Ryder Cup-date (get it?) on who's in and who's on the bubble - for both teams.

Starting with Team USA: the top 8 players are now set! They are:

Brooks Koepka
Dustin Johnson
Justin Thomas
Patrick Reed
Bubba Watson
Jordan Speith
Rickie Fowler
Webb Simpson

Pretty stacked team, I would say. Of these automatic qualifiers, only Justin Thomas has never played in a Ryder Cup, but he is the reigning Player of the Year and has been playing fantastic golf lately.

Now, how about the Captain's picks?

We have not yet gained the ability to read Jim Furyk's mind, but that feature will be rolling out in the next version of Power Tee.

However, we think Tiger Woods is a lock. Tiger is GRRRRRREAT (sorry) for TV rankings. He will already be heading to Paris as a vice-captain, and he's on a hot streak right now. That pick just makes good sense. 

Phil Mickelson will most likely be chosen, despite his are-you-out-of-your-golfin'-mind mistake at Shinnecock. The last time Lefty missed a Ryder Cup (1993), Jordan Speith and Justin Thomas were newborns. He's not playing particularly well, but he's also not playing particularly badly. I doubt he will make much of an impact at Le Golf National, but maybe his presence and leadership will boost Team USA. 

For the final two Captain's picks, my money (for entertainment purposes only, of course) is on Matt Kuuuuuchar and Brandt Snedeker. Kuch pairs well with Dustin Johnson and is a draw because of his personality, and Snedeker won the Wyndham Championship wire-to-wire and joined the exclusive 59 club on Thursday, something Jim understands very well. 

Of course, a win in the next few weeks by any on-the-bubble player will change things quite a bit.

As for Team Europe, nothing is set and everything is crazy and the race is on.

Automatic qualifiers don't set until September 2-3, and the race for the final spots will be going strong until then. Top in the European points list are Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose, Tyrell Hatton, and Tommy Fleetwood. Those are extremely unlikely to change, so we'll consider those locks.

The top 4 in the world points list (excluding the ones already chosen) are currently John Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, and Thorbjorn Olesen.

Note: Olesen's nickname is "Thunderbear", which is the greatest golf nickname ever, and I'm going all in on that. Thorbjorn means "thunder bear" in Swedish, as if Thorbjorn wasn't already an awesome name.

He clawed (or whatever Thunderbears do) his way into the final spot over Ian Poulter this weekend.

However, there are still two events left, so bubble players like Poulter, Rafa Cabrera-Bello, Russell Knox, and Eddie Pepperell can still edge their way in with good finishes. Otherwise, they'll be hoping to be picked by Captain Thomas Bjorn.

I like Rafa Cabrera-Bello. I watched him hit his first ever albatross on the 16th at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2017, and the place went NUTS. He also says he "accidentally" threw his club afterward in an apparent loss of all motor skills due to extreme excitement, but you can be the judge of that. I hope he makes it to Paris. 

 

 

Questions? Comments? Do you have a better golf nickname than Thunderbear? Leave your replies below! 

Subscribe to our blog posts.

Comment