Finau final pick for U.S. Ryder Cup team

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Tony Finau has been named to the Ryder Cup team, the final pick by U.S. captain Jim Furyk.

Finau joins Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods as Furyk’s four wild-card selections. Finau has 11 top-10 finishes this season, including three in major tournaments.

“There won’t be any locker-room noise with me,” Finau said Monday. “I can play with anyone. I feel that my personality is just that way. I can bring the best out of different guys playing with them, and them the same to me. I’m pretty easy to play with. And I’m playing some good golf, some world-class golf.”

His appeal is that he makes a lot of birdies, which is crucial in match play. He was paired with Furyk the first two days at the PGA Championship and struggled in the opening round but tied a tournament record by making 10 birdies in the second round.

“He has an unbelievable body of work this year,” Furyk said. “All those top10 finishes, the play in big championships and the majors, and then his current form — a second, a fourth and an eighth in the playoffs. He checked a lot of boxes and made it impossible not to pick him.”

Eight automatic qualifiers were set after the PGA Championship, so the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs was effectively an audition. After his topfive finishes in the first two events, Finau shot a final-round 65 on Monday to tie for eighth at the BMW Championship while Xander Schauffele, making a late run at a pick, finished one shot out of a playoff.

The U.S. Ryder Cup team includes three rookies (Finau, DeChambeau and Justin Thomas) and nine major champions.

The matches are Sept. 28-30 outside Paris.