2012 Ryder Cup Teams Are In

The 2012 Ryder Cup team for the United States has been finalised with captain Davis Love III completing his 12-man team on Tuesday by selecting Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker (above), Dustin Johnson, and Brandt Snedeker as his four ‘captain’s picks’.

Those choices leave the full 2012 Ryder Cup teams looking something like this:

US – Tiger Woods, Bubba Watson, Jason Dufner, Keegan Bradley, Webb Simpson, Zach Johnson, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Brandt Snedeker, Steve Stricker

Europe – Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Justin Rose (England), Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland), Paul Lawrie (Scotland), Francesco Molinari (Italy), Luke Donald (England), Lee Westwood (England), Sergio Garcia (Spain), Peter Hanson (Sweden), Martin Kaymer (Germany), Ian Poulter (England), Nicolas Colsaerts (Belgium)

The task now required of Love and Europe captain José María Olazábal will be to blend their 12 individual players into a functional and effective unit. The United States Ryder Cup team has won only one of the last five tournaments, though they did clinch the 2008 title, the last Ryder Cup played on American soil.

This year’s Ryder Cup teams have, in theory, never been stronger. The 24 players on both sides are all from the top 36 in the world ranking with ten of the Americans from the top 20.

Speaking to ESPN about his picks for the 2012 Ryder Cup team, Love said:

“I laid it out early on what I thought we needed and we stuck with it. I need Jim Furyk. I need Steve Stricker. The team will benefit from those guys being in the locker room, being in the team room. Then, you can’t argue with the golf that Brandt and Dustin have been playing. I think they matched up well, and it really did kind of lay right out there for us.”

Do you fancy the US team’s chances in 2012?