Only three weeks remain until the 2014 Ryder Cup, and on Tuesday, golf fans found out the three captain’s picks for both Team USA and Europe. The American squad already had nine players qualify by having the most points in the Ryder Cup standings after the PGA Championship, leaving captain Tom Watson to choose three additional golfers who he felt will give the USA the best chance to win back the Ryder Cup. In a press conference that was streamed live online Tuesday night, Watson has made his picks.
Keegan Bradley
Bradley became a household name among golf fans when he won the 2011 PGA Championship, the fourth golfer ever to win a major in his first attempt. This is his second Ryder Cup, having played on the 2012 squad that lost after a final-day collapse. At Medinah, Bradley did lose his singles match on that Sunday to Rory McIlroy, but won three matches that weekend when paired with Phil Mickelson (who is making his U.S. record 10th appearance in 2014). Bradley is also known for his enthusiastic celebrations, and does a decent impression of British Open announcer Ivor Robson.

Hunter Mahan
Mahan will make his third Ryder Cup appearance, having been on the victorious American squad in 2008, and on the 2010 squad that lost at Celtic Manor. Mahan has a respectable 3-2-3 record in the Ryder Cup, although he has yet to win a major championship. He joins fellow “Golf Boys” Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler on Team USA. Mahan has enjoyed a productive 2014 season; he is currently 3rd in the FedEx points standings, and won the Barclays in late August. Ben Crane is the one “Golf Boy” who will miss out on the Ryder Cup, because Tom Watson’s final pick is….
Webb Simpson
The 2012 U.S. Open champion made his Ryder Cup debut later that year, going 2-2, including a loss in his singles match. Simpson has struggled in the majors this year – only making the cut at June’s U.S. Open – but has one win and a trio of third-place finishes for the season. In his four-ball and foursome matches at Medinah two years ago, Simpson was paired with Bubba Watson, so don’t be surprised if the two are playing together again, possibly for all four sessions on Friday and Saturday.

Team Europe captain Paul McGinley also selected his picks on Tuesday: Ryder Cup rookie Stephen Gallacher, and veterans Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood. Columbus Dispatch columnist Michael Arace mentioned Luke Donald being left out, but the European team still has four of the top five players in the world. That said, Tom Watson was the last American captain to win a Ryder Cup overseas (in 1993), so will he inspire his players to win the Cup for only the second time since the new millennium?
This year’s event will be held September 26-28 at the Gleneagles Hotel’s PGA Centenary Course in Scotland. Can the U.S. prevent a third straight win for Team Europe? Golf fans are ready to witness the drama that is the Ryder Cup.