Posted by Jason Sobel
There's more red, white and blue on the Wyndham Championship leaderboard right now than has been draped around Michael Phelps in the past week. U.S.-born players accounted for 34 of the top 42 scores (everything 2-under 68 and below) from the morning wave at Sedgefield CC. And that doesn't include any of those already qualified for the Ryder Cup team, as the Eight Men In are all out of the field this week.
That leads to this e-mail from reader "JJV," who is seeking potential captain's picks from amongst those who are playing:
Let's assume for a minute that something crazy happens in the next three weeks and a journeyman like current co-leader Bob Heintz (or insert any other completely unlikely cat) wins this week, then backs it up with a couple of top-10 finishes the next two weeks. Isn't [Paul] Azinger, based on everything he's said, almost compelled to pick that guy?
Yeah, I think so. From the minute he accepted the role of captain, Azinger has contended that he wants the hottest current players on his roster. Of course, he'd love for a quartet of proven winners -- say,
Zach Johnson,
J.B. Holmes,
David Toms and
Steve Stricker, for example -- to step up and play their way onto the team. But what if a guy like Heintz, who is ranked 167th in the FedEx Cup standings with only five made cuts in 11 starts while splitting time on the Nationwide Tour, plays really well in the coming weeks? Has Azinger painted himself into a corner by having to select him? It could happen as Heintz owns a share of the lead with
Martin Laird after an opening-round 7-under 63 at the Wyndham Championship.
Before you say no, consider these comments from Azinger, told to Golfweek magazine earlier this year:
"He wins that last one the week I'm picking, I think he's as confident as anyone else. I had some players say to me, 'You can't pick a guy like that. He'd be too nervous.' I'm just saying I'm not afraid to do anything I have to do to get it right. …
"I just don't think you need 10 years of experience. You need to be super confident. …
"Laugh all you want, golf is golf I don't care how old you are. If it requires going below or above [the PGA Tour]. I will go wherever I need to go."
"Below or above" is based on Azinger's insistence that he would even pick a Nationwide or Champions tour player if that guy was competing on a higher level than the remainder of the competition.
So, yes, it's very possible that one or more of Azinger's picks on Sept. 2 could be completely off the radar screen right now -- and it puts his "short list" at, oh, 100 candidates or so. Maybe more. European captain
Nick Faldo, meanwhile, will likely choose his selections from a group that includes
Ian Poulter,
Paul Casey,
Colin Montgomerie and
Darren Clarke -- and no one else.
Is having such a large amount of potential players a good thing? Well, if nothing else, it will keep players like Johnson and Holmes -- each of whom is probably in the upper tier of that short list -- on their toes through the Deutsche Bank Championship. Azinger has said that he will continue to monitor a makeshift points list, even though the real one has reached its cut-off point. It's not unreasonable to imagine a player who was outside the top 20, top 50 or even top 100 playing his way into earning a ticket Valhalla this September.
It should serve as just a little extra motivation for the Bob Heintzes of the PGA Tour over the next few weeks.
Jason Sobel covers golf for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Jason.Sobel@espn3.com.
