Hunter Mahan leads list of Ryder Cup snubs

On Tuesday, Davis Love III announced his captain’s picks for the Ryder Cup, and they were a solid, if predictable, lot: Steve Stricker, Brandt Snedeker, Dustin Johnson and Jim Furyk. Now, of course, begins the second-guessing. Let’s look at some of the players Love snubbed, and see if there’s merit to his decisions.

Hunter Mahan: The big one. Ranked higher in the Ryder standings than any of the other wild cards, Mahan is one of the winningest golfers on Tour this year, with two victories, but Snedeker and Johnson flat-out outplayed him over the last few weeks. (Mahan hasn’t finished above 19th since before Independence Day.) Plus, he was on the losing end of the decisive 2010 Ryder Cup match against Graeme McDowell and unable to close against Bill Haas in the 2011 Tour Championship. Could that have played into Love’s decision? Perhaps.

Bo Van Pelt: This is an experience issue. Love wanted players with more experience, and Van Pelt missed out on his only chance to make the team by not playing quite well enough at Kiawah.

Rickie Fowler: He’s sparked U.S. teams before, but his inconsistency this year ended up dooming him. He won the Wells Fargo Championship but hasn’t finished above a T24 since May. But he’ll have plenty of chances before his career’s done.

Robert Garrigus: If there’s one thing you don’t need at the Ryder, it’s a guy with a history of coming up short, and Garrigus, as classy as a guy as he is, has come apart in the clutch at precisely the wrong time.

Bill Haas: Demonstrated the necessary mental strength to win by taking down the 2011 FedExCup, but hasn’t had the kind of reliable golf year that would get him consideration over the top four.

Kyle Stanley, Kevin Na, Johnson Wagner, Mark Wilson: Good but not spectacular play over the course of the season. Needed to bring more at the right time, but all are decent bets to make a team at some point in their careers … Na, if only to frustrate the hell out of the Europeans.

Jack Nicklaus. What? He was still available.

All right, your thoughts. Did Love get it right?

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