Pavin sends American Ryder Cup stock soaring with picks

CHICAGO -- In a needless publicity stunt given the status the event already commands, U.S. Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin announced his four wildcard picks on Tuesday morning at a site that has come to symbolize the unpredictable American commerce system.

Traders and brokers hustled around, buying and selling stock shares, barking orders, scribbling on pieces of paper and pounding at computer keyboards.

Yet amid the typical chaos on the floor, when it came time for Pavin to finally pick the last four guys on his 12-man squad from a few yards away, the New York Shock Exchange, it wasn't.

World No. 1 Tiger Woods is back on the team after missing the 2008 matches with knee issues, joining fellow match-play warriors Stewart Cink and Zach Johnson, members of multiple team competitions against the Europeans or internationals, on home and foreign soil.

As for the much-debated fourth slot, Pavin went with an IPO on rookie Rickie Fowler, a choice that might raise a few eyebrows, but not many hackles.

"It just came down to feelings," Pavin said Tuesday in New York. "I had a gut feeling about Rickie. He has a good Walker Cup record, 7 1. He's a very good player. There's a lot of very good players that I had to look at, but that's the way I went."

Fowler completes the dozen-man roster, the last piece of a roster that, after it's all shaken out, seems to have a pretty darned good chance of retaining the Cup after all. Fowler, picked as much for his long-term upside -- insert more stock analogies here -- is certainly not a red-flag selection for the red, white and blue.

If not Fowler, then who?

It was getting downright embarrassing the way many of the perceived candidates for the 12th-man spot kept caving over the past few weeks. Fowler, all of 21, hasn't exactly been a golf-course pyromaniac lately, since he doesn't have a top 10 finish since the Memorial Tournament on June 6, but he certainly delivers a panache that few others can offer.

The kid has an infectious air, is absolutely fearless, and hasn't so much as blinked in his first season as a PGA Tour member. Besides, if nothing else, it sets up what could be the beginning of a fairly tasty rivalry that could last the next 15-20 years.

"If Colin Montgomerie and Corey Pavin don't find a way to get Rickie Fowler and Rory McIlroy paired in singles, they should be shot," said Jim Mackay, Phil Mickelson's caddie, about half-kiddingly.

Pavin had to field a couple of uncomfortable questions about Woods' berth on the team and the world No. 1's aloofness at the team events was called into question. But nobody doubts that Fowler will bring some juice, similar to full-blown squirrels Jeff Overton and Bubba Watson, who might just faint from excitement and adrenaline overload.

"I can bring I guess a little bit of color to the team, I can bring some youth to the team and hopefully get the guys pumped up a little bit," Fowler said. "But as I said, we are all going over there to win so we are all going to be getting each other pumped up and kind of focusing on our main goal, bringing home the Cup?"

An added bonus with Rickie Fowler (left) being picked? Growing the rivalry with Rory McIlroy. (Getty Images)

Fowler might be a capable replacement for Anthony Kim, who was sort of the mega-caffeinated Red Bull member of the 2008 Ryder victory. Kim didn't make the team this time after having surgery on his wrist four months ago.

"I thought Anthony Kim did a great job of that the last Ryder Cup, but I do think I could bring some energy and that's one thing I would like to do, is help out the team, obviously playing well, stuff like that, but keeping the guys fired up and keeping that main goal in mind," Fowler said.

There's one back-of-the-mind doubt as it relates to Fowler, it's that he's the fifth rookie to make the team and joined Overton as the only players ever to make a U.S. Ryder team without first winning a PGA Tour event. But the Yanks had six rookies on the 2008 team and reclaimed the Cup, and the European side will have six first-timers in Wales.

But really, how can anybody grouse about the four wildcard picks? Woods seemed like a charity pick three weeks ago, but is playing his best golf of the year and just posted three straight rounds in the 60s last week in Boston. Cink and Johnson are steady, reliable, level-headed players who won't faint when the first chant of ole, ole-ole-ole, starts. Which will be about 10 minutes before the first ball is struck.

Who else merited a spot? Go ahead, mull the options. It won't take long. Fowler is ranked No. 33 in the world, two spots ahead of Cink, who won the British Open last year.

The flavor of the week, Charley Hoffman, certainly kicked up some dust Monday night when he shot 62 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship for his fourth top-10 finish in two months, but he didn't even qualify to play in any of the four majors this year.

Even the Hoff himself was hardly crestfallen Tuesday when he learned his last-ditch effort came up a bit short of the goal line.

"Really, the Ryder Cup I had all year to play my way on the team, and when you leave it up to the captain's pick, you can't be disappointed because you had your chance to earn your spot," Hoffman said.

Pavin had three options: Pick the perceived best player not already on the team, select the guy who was hottest at the moment, or try to find a player that is a suitable dance partner in the two-man team formats, where the U.S. has been systematically destroyed in recent years.

He claimed he did none of the above, actually.

"What was important to me is who I thought could play well in that environment over in Wales on European soil," he said. "That was my first criteria. Obviously I like guys that are playing well, and that's important. I wanted to find guys that round off the team and make it a team of 12, not 12 individuals that are great players. I wanted 12 players that made up a great team.

"I think we have a very good blend. I was very pleased with the eight [automatic merit-based picks] that I was given after the PGA Championship, and I think adding these four is a very good blend, as well. I like the overall blend of the team. There's a lot of options. It gives me a lot of flexibility with the four players I picked today.

"There's many combinations up there that will work. I'll have to work on that the next three weeks."

Not sure I'd agree completely with that assessment, since the team still seems to be stilted heavily toward guys with an unholy array of firepower -- six of the players on the team rank in the tour's top 30 in driving distance after Monday's fourth round in Boston. Of course, they all spray it around plenty, too.

After spending a dizzying day as the show pony in New York, Pavin rang the closing bell at the NYSE on Tuesday afternoon.

No need for anybody to gong the guys he picked Tuesday. Three of them were ironclad gimmies and Fowler was as solid as anybody else on the draft board, his comparative lack of experience aside.

With the controversial final composition of the European team being roundly questioned globally, the American stock looks better than it has all year, especially with Woods rounding back into form.

In fact, in the parlance of the traders, it's gone from bare to downright bullish.