Milwaukee, WI (My Sportsbook) - United States Ryder Cup captain Hal Sutton finalized his team on Monday when he announced the selections of Jay Haas and Stewart Cink as his captain's picks.
"These were the best two for our team," said Sutton. "They're not only great players, but they're great human beings. This team has been rounded out very nicely with their additions. I'm happy with my decision."
The two round out the team with Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Davis Love III, Jim Furyk, Kenny Perry, David Toms, Chad Campbell, Chris DiMarco, Fred Funk and Chris Riley. Those 10 players automatically qualified for the team on points.
DiMarco, who lost in the playoff to Vijay Singh at the PGA Championship, and Riley, who tied for fourth place, made the team at Whistling Straits. Haas and Steve Flesch were bumped from the team Sunday afternoon.
Haas became the second player over the age of 50 selected to the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Ray Floyd was a captain's pick by Tom Watson in 1993 at the age of 51 years, 21 days. Ted Ray played for the Great Britain & Ireland team in 1927 at the age of 50 years, two months and five days.
Haas played in two previous Ryder Cups, albeit in two different decades. He first represented the U.S. in 1983, then again in 1995, amassing a 3-4-1 record.
"I'm pretty emotional about it," said Haas, who skipped many Champions Tour events to accumulate points for this team. "It's something I pointed to for the last couple of years. To realize that is pretty exciting."
Haas was involved in the deciding singles match on Sunday in 1995. He won 16 and 17 to cut the gap against Philip Walton, but lost the 18th to a bogey, thus losing the match and giving Europe the 14 1/2 points necessary to win the Cup.
Cink played in only one other Ryder Cup, the 2002 event at the Belfry. He went 1-2, including a loss in the singles to Thomas Bjorn. He played both of his team matches with Furyk.
"To know the captain of the Ryder Cup team thinks enough of me as a player and a person to put me on the team, it's a dream come true," said Cink, who went 4-0 in the 2000 Presidents Cup. "I'm so excited to play for the U.S. and Hal."
Cink was down on the points table until a playoff win at the Heritage in Hilton Head. He finished fifth at the Buick Open two weeks ago, then tied for sixth at the International last week. Cink tied for 17th at the PGA Championship.
Haas finished 12th on the final points list, while Cink came in 14th.
Among those under consideration for a captain's pick but passed over were: Scott Verplank, Flesch, Justin Leonard, who also fell in the playoff to Singh, British Open champion Todd Hamilton, John Daly and Jerry Kelly.
Flesch fell out of the top 10 and did not play well enough on the weekend at Whistling Straits, despite a win at this year's Colonial. Hamilton, even with two wins including the British Open, is a tour rookie and accumulated zero points last year.
Daly and Kelly played themselves out of spots by missing the cut at the PGA. Neither had any Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup experience.
But Verplank and Leonard were the most interesting omissions. Verplank played in the 2002 Ryder Cup, when then captain Curtis Strange made him the first U.S. rookie ever to be named a captain's pick. He went 2-1 in that Ryder Cup, including a singles victory over Lee Westwood and a foursomes win with Sutton.
Verplank worked hard to make the team on points, but came up short. He tied for seventh at the British Open and tied for 10th at the Buick Open, but had a pair of 11th-place finishes that narrowly kept him out of earning any points.
Verplank is also battling a foot problem and on Friday at the PGA Championship, he twisted his ankle and struggled to rounds of 76-77-73 at Whistling Straits.
"I did call Scott," said Sutton. "Obviously he was disappointed. I was worried about his foot problem and his ankle problem. There are many deserving people and he was one of those deserving people."
Leonard had only one top-10 before his runner-up finish at the PGA Championship. He played on the American Ryder Cup teams in 1997 and 1999 and is best known for holing the 45-foot birdie putt on the 17th at Brookline that clinched the Ryder Cup for the U.S.
In that match, Jose Maria Olazabal won the 18th to halve the match. Leonard is 0-3-5 in his Ryder Cup career and if he had won the PGA Championship, he would have played his way on the team in points.
"He played great this championship," said Sutton. "But I couldn't pick him because of one event."
The Ryder Cup will take place September 17-19 at Oakland Hills Country Club. The European team will be finalized in two weeks when captain Bernhard Langer makes his captain's picks.
