WILD THINGS Tiger and Phil set to be Furyk picks and be his masters of Paris
PHIL MICKELSON nailed nine birdies in his best round of the year last night to seal his first Ryder Cup wild-card.
The American veteran, 48, showed perfect timing to shoot an eight-under-par 63 at the Dell Technologies Championship in Boston the day before Jim Furyk makes his first three captain’s picks.
The five-time Major champ has qualified automatically for every American team since 1995. But despite his win at the WGC-Mexico in March, his poor play at the Majors saw him miss out on the top eight in the rankings, while he was was also forced to apologise for deliberately hitting his moving ball on the green at the US Open.
His experience and popularity in the team-room had seen him backed to play a record 12th Ryder Cup – he currently shares the record with Nick Faldo – probably along with Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau as fellow wildcards. Now the world No.24 has found his old form too with the Ryder Cup just weeks away and he will be one of Furyk’s picks.
“It feels really good to put it all together,” he said. “I have felt over the last few months that I have been turning 65s and 66s into 71s and 72s but today I was able to get off to a good start and maintain it.
“It is fortunate also that it is the day before the Ryder Cup picks but I don’t feel that should have a bearing. I think you have to look at the big picture over the course of the year and not one round, but it certainly doesn’t hurt.”
Mickelson formed a disastrous partnership with Woods at the 2004 Ryder Cup but the two veterans will be paired with younger guns in France later this month.
And 14-time Major champ Woods could play with 24-yearold DeChambeau.
After their third-round pairing at the TPC in Boston, Woods said: “He’s great. We’ve played in practice rounds quite a bit this year and he’s fantastic. It was two friends going out there, competing and playing.”
DeChambeau, who won the first FedEx playoff event last week, said: “It would be an honour to play with him. I think we could have some great chemistry out there and hopefully maybe intimidate some people. That would be nice.”
Thomas Bjorn will name his four European wild-cards in London tomorrow.
Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson look certain to claim two of the berths but the other two slots are up for grabs, with Bjorn having to decide whether to opt for the experience of Sergio Garcia and Paul Casey, neither in form, or go for manin-form Matt Wallace, winner in Denmark on Sunday.
Thomas Pieters and Rafa Cabrera-Bello are also in with a shout.