SB Nation’s 2016 Ryder Cup Preview

Whoo, boy! Talk about bulletin-board material, which the golf world dissected after Lee Westwood said Tiger Woods could have an "adverse effect" on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Now, thanks to the rather unbelievable bluster of U.S. captain Davis Love III, it’s the Europeans’ turn to play the "disrespect" card — as if Rory McIlroy, et al, needed any additional incentive to go out and put another whooping on the Americans.

Sure, the oddsmakers once again have installed Team USA as the favorites to win the Ryder Cup and, this year at Hazeltine, snap a three-game losing streak and walk away victorious for what would be just the third time in the last 11 events.

Then Love, who’s in a return engagement as skipper (just the third ever repeat captain for the USA) after his team famously melted down in the 2012 finale at Medinah, went and put even more pressure on his squad by boasting that the 12-guy roster for Hazeltine roster just might be the GOAT.

"We don’t have to do anything superhuman, we’re a great golf team," Love told Golf Channel’s Matt Adams on Friday, two days before finalizing his lineup with his fourth and final Wild Card pick. "The best golf team, maybe, ever assembled."

As if that weren’t enough, Love also admitted that when things start to go south in the biennial matches, the Americans tend to throw up all over their FootJoys.

"We want to win so badly that when we have a bad session or we lose the momentum, we panic a little bit," Love said. "We start playing not to lose rather than playing to win."

If Love has his way, there’ll be no more of that this time around. Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, and the other 10 fellas have to put their big-boy pants on and take it to the Euros.

"You need to stand up there, smash it down the middle, and take off walking, and let the other team know we are going to dominate you," DL3 said.

Taking a motivational lesson from the second-winningest active coach in the NFL, the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick, Love said the recipe is really pretty simple: "Just do your job ... and not try to win too hard."

All righty, then. We’re on to Hazeltine.

Dustin Johnson figures he can buddy up with any of his Ryder Cup teammates in foursomes and fourball matches — just not Phil Mickelson.

"I think I can partner well with pretty much anyone — except for Phil," Johnson told reporters ahead of the FedExCup finale, the Tour Championship. "Me and him don’t partner well together. We play well against each other."

DJ was referring to Mickelson’s legendary Tuesday money ball games in which Lefty and his proteges try to pick each other’s pockets as they tune up for that week’s PGA Tour event.

For sure, his public plea to U.S. captain Davis Love III not to pair him with Mickelson was nothing personal, Johnson assured the gathered scribes.

"I love Phil and we’re great friends," he said, "but we have a lot more fun when we’re playing against each other, not as partners."

Love probably did not need Johnson’s urging to find the likely Player of the Year a partner other than five-time major winner Mickelson — like fellow strong-armed bomber Brooks Koepka, perhaps?

DJ and Lefty were not exactly boffo when they teamed up for 3&2 losses in both Opening Day foursomes and fourballs in the 2010 Ryder Cup. That was a long time ago, however, and while he won't be with Phil this year, the U.S. team will need DJ to put some points on the board. He is captain Love's lead horse and should probably play all five sessions of this year's Cup.

We. Our. Us.

If you watch enough golf, you’ve probably heard Jordan Spieth using plural pronouns in reference to his play on the course. Much has been made about this Team Spieth — who’s in it, who isn’t. It’s well-known and established he leans on caddie Michael Greller heavily during rounds, and that’s led to a number of hot-to-lukewarm takes about what that means regarding his mental makeup and fortitude during big moments.

In reality, it’s not a big deal one way or the other, it’s a dang choice of a pronoun. But it does give insight on how Spieth, one that grew up in a family of athletes playing other team sports, views the game of golf — as a team game.

That viewpoint might explain some of his success while wearing U.S. colors. In three U.S. national team appearances, Spieth’s been lethal in fourballs and alternate-shot play. A 7-2-1 record through two President Cups and the 2014 Ryder Cup, Spieth teamed up with Patrick Reed to be the lone bright spot amidst the American trash fire at Gleneagles. The two picked up two wins and a half playing together in 2014 — and then got back together as teammates for a single match at the 2015 Presidents Cup, running over Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel.

They'll be expected to be America’s horses again through the first couple of days in Minnesota, although we may not see them paired together again for all four sessions. Spieth made it pretty clear at the Presidents Cup that he wanted to branch out and try some new partners this early in his team career.

On Masters Sunday, it looked as if Spieth was poised to run away from the rest of the golf world and become the game’s new phenom. In hindsight, we were asking too much too early of a still-young player. It was unrealistic to expect a 22-to-23-year-old to duplicate the dominance of 2015 — a year for Spieth that stacks up with the best in the history of golf.

Make no mistake, though, a dogged competitor like Spieth assuredly quantifies his own success in major titles, and 2016 hasn’t brought any of those. But it can still bring a Ryder Cup home to the states for the first time since 2008 — and that might just go a long way to help him start 2017 on a high note.

Whether his team breaks out of its Ryder Cup funk this year or loses an unprecedented fourth straight biennial tourney to the Europeans, Phil Mickelson’s fingerprints will be all over the Americans’ strategic blueprint.

Indeed, the U.S. player with the most Ryder Cups on his resume (2016 marks 11 straight starts for Phil) may be scrutinized more for his primary role in establishing the task force than for what he does on the field.

If Team USA is able to tally its first W since 2008, Mickelson will get much credit for convening the Ryder Cup panel in the wake of the disaster at Gleneagles and his subsequent verbal mugging of captain Tom Watson.

Should the Americans’ futility continue and Davis Love III’s squad loses for the ninth time in 11 tries, however, questions about what went wrong will likely swirl around the future captain.

"After the Tom Watson deal at Gleneagles, there's pressure on him," an anonymous American told Golf Digest recently about Mickelson. "He's going to be asked about it." Meanwhile, Mickelson lugs a losing Ryder Cup record (16-19-7) and an up-and-down PGA Tour season to Hazeltine. In addition to three second-place finishes, he missed six cuts, most recently at the Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.

As usual, Phil has sprayed drives hither and yon, as he ranks 154th on Tour in accuracy off the tee — a flaw that has not gone unnoticed by the other side.

"Massive questions off the tee, as we've seen many times over the years," one Euro told Golf Digest. "His driving can be all over the place. His big weakness, though, is his stubbornness. Even when it's obvious he's driving poorly, he won't stop hitting driver. Which means cheap holes for the opposition."

The 46-year-old, who has been on the winning Ryder Cup side just twice in 10 appearances, also took European Ryder Cupper Henrik Stenson down to the wire at Royal Troon, as the duo duked it out in a dramatic Sunday finale of perhaps the greatest British Open conclusion ever. So, strap in for Phil the Thrill’s roller coaster ride across Hazeltine.

Anyone remember before the 2014 Ryder Cup, when Patrick Reed was an overconfident Tour player that proclaimed he was one of the top five players in the world? That sure seems like a long time ago. It was during that Ryder Cup that Reed became the darling of young American golf fans thanks to his in-your-face style and "shhhhhhhhh!" of the European crowd.

Prior to the 2014 Ryder Cup, Reed had already racked up three impressive Tour wins. He took down Jordan Spieth at the 2013 Wyndham Championship in a playoff. He won the Humana Challenge by two shots. And maybe the best of the bunch, Reed beat the very best in the world at the WGC-Cadillac Championship. It was an strong stretch for someone so young. And while many still brushed aside his "top five" comments, Reed was being mentioned statistically in the same categories as guys like Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

Still, his attitude rubbed people the wrong way. Many laughed and mocked Reed for his bravado. While he had tremendous on-course success, it was hard to find people that thought Reed was on the same level as a Woods or McIlroy. This was a preposterous notion, despite his early career pace.

For many, the opinion of Reed changed (at least from an American perspective) at the 2014 Ryder Cup. A dominant performance, the signature "shhhh" move to a hostile crowd, and all-time levels of #TourSauce flair changed the perception of Reed. Suddenly, his arrogance was an asset. He paired well with Jordan Spieth and rolled through the week with 3-0-1 record. It was an impressive week for the Ryder Cup rookie. Maybe he was right to boast about himself.

Since the 2014 Ryder Cup, Reed has notched two more wins, including at The Barclays just a few weeks ago in the FedExCup Playoffs. He also competed as a member of Team USA at the Rio Olympics.

It's been a wild couple of years for Reed and he is still not without his haters, but he will undoubtedly be an asset to the American team again, and should be considered for all five of the week's sessions. Expect at least a portion of those to be back again with Spieth, the all-star duo of 2014.

Jimmy Walker was a Ryder Cup afterthought for much of 2016. Then, he rocketed up the points standings and secured an automatic spot with his first major championship. Walker won the PGA Championship at the end of July, and a major win counts as double points in the Ryder Cup standings. That was all he really needed after an uneven season to lock up his second straight spot on the U.S. roster.

Walker's week at the PGA was amazing — he led from start to finish and held off the No. 1 player in the world, Jason Day, at the very end when the pressure was most intense. The Texan hits the ball a mile, although often it's off the line, and he putted out of his mind that week at Baltusrol. But this wasn't exactly a strong season for Walker until that week. He really failed to make much of a dent through most of the summer and missed the cut at The Players, U.S. Open, and Open before finding something at the PGA.

Walker is a bit of a late bloomer, grinding on lower tours and then exploding on the PGA Tour over the past three years. All six of his career wins have come in that burst, and 2014 was the career breakout that put him at the top of the FedExCup standings and on the Ryder Cup team in just the first month of the season. Walker was not a flop in his first Ryder Cup, at least getting 2.5 points up on the board in Scotland. That matched Jordan Spieth's contributions and only Patrick Reed had more. Watson did ride the Walker and Rickie Fowler pairing a little too hard, and they ran out of gas at the end of those two-man sessions.

Expect Davis Love III to keep Walker and Rickie together at Hazeltine. They love playing together and will probably practice together for most of the week.

The United States team features loads of experience this year. The one big newcomer for the stars and stripes is Brooks Koepka. He may lack Ryder Cup experience, but the 26-year-old is already among the best in the world. He should be a fixture on these national teams for years to come.

In 2015, Koepka earned his first PGA Tour victory at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. As the season moved on, it became increasingly obvious that he had the game to not only be considered for a spot on the team in 2016, but that he should be a mainstay.

Koepka solidified his spot on the team in 2016. Six top-10s this calendar year, a playoff loss to Sergio Garcia at the Byron Nelson, and a ballsy showing on an injured ankle at the PGA Championship put him safely on the automatic qualifying points list. His game has also been well-rounded this year. Koepka ranks in the top 20 on Tour for Strokes Gained Putting, Driving Distance, Birdie and Scoring Average, and maybe most importantly, money.

The wild card factor that may determine Koepka's success in the 2016 Ryder Cup is his rookie approach. By all accounts, Koepka has a laid back but somewhat arrogant attitude that could serve him well in match play format. We saw this work well last time around for 2014 rookie Patrick Reed. Could Koepka be this year's Reed? Look at this exchange from the 2015 Open Championship when winds made play almost impossible. (via Kevin Van Valkenburg)

"Last year at the Open Championship at St. Andrews, when rules officials from the Royal & Ancient were insisting players continue on during the third round even though the wind was whipping in excess of 35 mph, Koepka stood his ground and got into a heated discussion with the official on the seventh green.

According to someone who witnessed the exchange, the official, a Scotsman, became annoyed when Koepka admonished him and failed to address him by his proper title.

I am a sir, the rules official allegedly said. And you will refer to me as such when addressing me.

I don't give a f--- who you are, Koepka responded. I'm not playing until my ball stops oscillating."

After more than a decade of inept play, this is the confrontational attitude that the United States needs to change things up. Koepka is someone that will not be intimidated by the moment or get nervous to take on some of the best European players in the world.

Brandt Snedeker is back after a 2014 hiatus. Snedeker earned an automatic spot after a steady season on the PGA Tour that included one of the rounds of the year out at Torrey Pines. That final round in San Diego was good enough to win the Farmers Insurance Open, the peak of his season back in February. He's been alright ever since — certainly OK enough to earn a roster spot while a lot of his USA colleagues simply plodded through the second half of the season.

Snedeker is often hailed as one of the best putters in the world, which is always an asset in match play. He's 36th on the Tour, however, in strokes gained putting, which is fine — not commensurate with the rep that he has as an incredible putter. His teammates will love that pop stroke, and he can probably partner with anyone on the U.S. roster — he's not the disagreeable type.

The speculation last week was that Sneds might pair up with Phil Mickelson, and Davis Love III tweeted pictures of a foursome during an informal practice weekend at Hazeltine. Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler were two of the players, and they're expected to play together again this year. Sneds and Phil were the other two. Phil could go in a number of directions and so can Sneds, who probably won't play every session.

In his rookie debut back at Medinah, Snedeker rolled in as the hottest putter in the world and fresh off a $10 million FedExCup win. But he went 1-2-0 over the weekend, including an embarrassing blowout loss to Paul Lawrie during that Sunday singles meltdown in Chicago. Like many others on the American roster, this is a chance for redemption.

Zach is back again. The ball-striking ace from Iowa is playing in his fifth Ryder Cup overall and his fourth straight. His teams have lost each of the preceding Cups he has played, but that's the case for a lot of American players over the last two decades.

Johnson did not have a strong 2016 season. It was fine — steady and Zach Johnson-like, there was no cratering in form or anything. It's just that he was the last player to qualify automatically on points, and a lot of those points came from his 2015 British Open win. The majors during those off-years count for the next season when the Ryder Cup comes up, and that was the boost ZJ needed to stay in the standings race.

The record is not as heinous as you might think for someone who has played on four losing Ryder Cup teams. Johnson is 6-6-2 overall, which is better than Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, and Jim Furyk can claim. But based on his underwhelming season, ZJ is not expected to be some horse at Hazeltine that Davis Love will rely on heavily. He won't play every session.

Johnson paired well with Mickelson last year at the Presidents Cup. The two seemed to love playing together and had styles that bounced well off one another. That could be another route that Love goes. Johnson is generally loved by all his American peers, both young and veteran. It would nice for him to finally win one.

What a difference two years can make in the life of a PGA Tour golfer. Just ask Rickie Fowler, who was flying high on the wings of what was then his best season as a professional when he made the 2014 Ryder Cup team. Now, he scuffles into the 2016 U.S. team room as an end-of-the-roster captain’s pick.

There’s certainly no squabble about Rickie’s bona fides among Fowler-o-philes, who love the Team USA enthusiasm Rickie exudes — from shaving "USA" into the side of his head back at Gleneagles, to his red, white, and blue week in Rio. He was head cheerleader for the Americans in the recent Olympics, going so far as to memorialize the event with his most recent body art, and promises to be all rah rah for the home crowd at Hazeltine.

But while Fowler burnished his resume by finishing among the top five in each major in his breakthrough year of 2014, this season has been a different story. He did have a win on the European Tour in Abu Dhabi in January and eight PGA Tour top-10s, but he faded down the stretch when he coughed up the final-round lead at The Barclays and then finished 59th at the BMW Championship to drop out of the FedExCup playoffs.

His 0-3-5 lifetime Ryder Cup record was certainly not a factor in his making the team, but nor was it a deterrent to Davis Love III offering the fan fave a ticket to Chaska, Minn.

No doubt Fowler’s role on the much-ballyhooed and -maligned task force helped get him on the field. But it’s up to Rickie to prove he belongs.

Matt Kuchar brings an Olympic bronze medal and affability to Hazeltine. The 2016 captain’s pick has the experience captain Davis Love III was looking for when he named Kuchar to his fourth Ryder Cup squad.

"Experience is good," Love said after announcing Kuchar, Rickie Fowler, and J.B. Holmes as his wild cards earlier this month. "We know what to expect. We know how to handle it, how to deal with it. We've been there. We're going to learn from our mistakes in the past and build on it."

Hardly a surprising selection, Kuchar was a favorite to be tapped because he’s an affable partner for any member of his team. He tied for fourth at the BMW Championship and has 10 top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this year, but he hasn’t won on Tour since the RBC Heritage in April 2014.

Kuchar, though, likely punched his ticket to Hazeltine by capturing the bronze at Rio, and certainly injected some humor and drama into the mind-numbing process the U.S. uses to fill out its roster.

"Gosh, imagine that, Tiger Woods playing for Team USA, being a captain," the ever-smiling Kooch said with a straight face about what player might be DL3’s fourth and final pick. "That would be incredible."

J.B. Holmes has the rare distinction of being one of the modern American golfers to have played in and never lost a Ryder Cup. Zach Johnson has played in four and never won one. Holmes was a one-time participant in that 2008 Ryder Cup in his home state of Kentucky, pairing with Boo Weekley in what captain Paul Azinger affectionately referred to as the "Redneck pod."

Now, Holmes is back after missing the team each of the last three go-rounds. Injuries were a big part of his time away from the upper echelon of the most competitive tour in the world. But Holmes has been solid the past couple years, re-ascending the world rankings with that big bombing style.

Holmes was, by all accounts, the last captain's pick in Davis Love's first round of wild card choices. Holmes beat out Bubba Watson, Jim Furyk, and others to safely get a spot with Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler as the first three captain's picks. Holmes absolutely hammers it off the tee, which can be delectable to play with if you're a partner who does not have a ton of distance. But he doesn't do too much well after that. Long hitters will be needed at Hazeltine, but Holmes will have to make a few putts and that's not a strength of his game — at all. Neither is his chipping and short game.

Don't expect Holmes to play every session, but while he's quiet, he definitely has a little dog in him. Azinger said he was one of those "chip on your shoulder guys" in that successful 2008 campaign. Now he's back and hopefully he'll bring that winning vibe to a bunch of teammates who have never experienced that kind of success.

Maybe it isn't ideal that America's hottest player's only win in the last two seasons came opposite the Olympics at the John Deere Classic. Or, maybe, it doesn't matter -- because he's perfect for the Ryder Cup's match play format.

Ryan Moore vaulted his way into the conversation for the Americans' final captain's selection with strong play through the final two months of the season, capping it off with a runner-up performance at the Tour Championship. The former UNLV Rebel took Rory McIlroy four holes deep into a playoff in the season's final event — playing his way into the good graces of US Captain Davis Love III.

Moore's stats across 2016 bode well for the risk-reward style of match play golf, whether it be as an individual or with a partner. He's tops on tour in 2016 in total birdies & eagles made — the only figures that really matter in a match play format. That's paid off for him in the past, too. Moore had a brilliant amateur career nearly on par with Tiger Woods, winning the match-play finals of the US Amateur and US Public Links. But both those wins came 14 years ago, back in 2002.

Since that time, Moore's picked up 5 wins on the PGA Tour, but most have come in events where the lights haven't shone so bright. He did win amongst quality fields at the 2013 & 2014 CIMB Classic in Malaysia, but those wins came in October and November when most of the world has turned away from golf to football. In fact, only one of his five wins -- the 2009 Wyndham Championship — wasn't an alternate-field event or a fall tournament. With only two major championship top-tens in 35 career starts, there's little evidence there to make you feel great about Moore on the big stage.

There's no question -- this will be the biggest moment of Moore's career. Is he just a guy that's been running up birdie totals on easier courses and weaker fields — or can he shine bright on one of the game's biggest stages?