Bamberger: The only thing he would like better than four is five or more.
Shipnuck: Yeah, I'm quite sure Ollie would love to have someone beside Kaymer on his team.
Godich: Maybe so, but Ollie can always say that he was hamstrung by having only two picks.
Reiterman: I wish the captains picked the entire team. To hell with the points. Would Love even pick Mickelson right now if he had 12 picks? Probably not.
Dusek: Love would pick Mickelson, but your idea is interesting. I have to believe that having more than two picks would be a good thing for Ollie because it would give him some wiggle room to bring in one unconventional pick. Love tweeted that until Fred Couples withdrew with a back injury this week, he'd been a candidate for a captain's pick. He may have been joking, but with four picks in his pocket, it's a luxury Love has that Olazabal doesn't.
Morfit: What I love about the idea of giving each captain 12 picks is the huge upsurge in back-room maneuvering, bruised feelings and warring factions. Of course it's never going to happen, but a guy can dream.
Tell us what you think in the comments section below: Will Nick Watney get a captain's pick for the U.S. Ryder Cup team?
BEST AMERICANS RIGHT NOW
Morfit: On another Ryder-related note, Phil Mickelson, who had an outside chance at the Barclays, was trying a claw-like putting stroke, pushed everything left and shot 76. Tiger also had an outside chance and also shot 76. Who exactly are Team USA's best two Ryder Cup players at the moment?
Bamberger: Tiger and Watney.
Dusek: Mickelson also flip-flopped between putters, switching to his old blade at the start of the Barclays, then changing again to the putter he used at Kiawah.
Reiterman: Good grief, Phil! The claw?! I'd still say Tiger is the best player right now, but you could make an argument for Duf-nah.
Herre: Both Tiger and Phil are out of sorts. The claw thing was Phil being Phil. I'm sure Dave Stockton is mortified. Tiger is simply not playing well. Average driving and career-worst putting contributed to another lost weekend.
Shipnuck: Tiger and Phil are rarely studs at the Ryder Cup anyway. The U.S. has no best player, which makes it a dangerous team.
Godich: I also liked that Dufner chose to skip the Barclays. Bethpage probably wasn't his kind of course, and he'll be well-rested for the September stretch.
Morfit: I totally agree, Mark. I watched Furyk's grinding away to try and make the cut at the Black on Friday, and it was painful. He's not the type of bomber that course was made for, but he played admirably and simply couldn't buy a putt coming in. Obviously he's trying to impress Love, as are the other guys.
Dusek: Certainly Dufner's decision to skip the Barclays doesn't look bad now. Watney leads the FedEx Cup points race, but Rory and Tiger and Zach's performances won't push them much further ahead of Dufner.
Van Sickle: The key to success in pro golf is being ready to play, physically and mentally. Dufner and Garcia, who said he would skip the Deutsche Bank, made wise decisions to recharge before the Ryder Cup. They're not going to regret it, no matter where they finish in the FedEx Cash Grab.
Tell us what you think in the comments section below: Who's the best American player right now?
EURO PICKS AND SELECTION PROCESS
Morfit: Let's talk about Europe's Ryder Cup team, which will be finalized early Monday morning. Padraig Harrington became a juicy first-day story at the Barclays after his opening-round 64 at Bethpage Black. That's because of his stormy history with Euro captain Jose Maria Olazabal, and a strange decision by the European tour to include its own Johnnie Walker in the points race while excluding the Barclays. Anyone else find this an odd decision?
Van Sickle: Harrington wasn't even going to get a look unless he won, and if he did, Ollie still would've passed him over. Everyone loves the guy, but his Ryder Cup record is abysmal. We'll miss his quotes, though.
Reiterman: It is an odd decision, but Harrington's sluggish finish made it easier on Jose. Poulter and Colsaerts are looking pretty good for picks.
Shipnuck: Typical Euro tour politics. The only reason was to try to induce guys to play at Gleneagles.
Dusek: Agreed. It's the European tour's way of saying that guys need to play European tour events instead of big-money PGA Tour events.
Bamberger: It's a flat-out dis of the U.S. tour.
Godich: They couldn't have been too pleased seeing so many of their big names at Bethpage.
Herre: Yes, the FedEx Cup playoffs are poison to the Euro tour.
Morfit: It's funny because on paper and in every other way the Barclays is a far superior tournament. That decision on the part of the Euro tour, and the lingering toxicity in the Harrington-Olazabal relationship, and Garcia obviously siding with Olazabal, showed a not altogether flattering side of the Ryder Cup. Of course, it's a lot of fun to write about.
Herre: Since the 1980s the Euros have taken the Ryder Cup more seriously than the Americans, and their dark side often shows itself. We in the U.S. have a misperception about the Europeans. They can be almost clannish.
Morfit: Clannish is the operative word, if not clownish. Or maybe it's both.
Tell us what you think in the comments section below: Who will Olazabal pick for the European Ryder Cup team?
