Ryder Cup 2016 picks: Rickie Fowler, Matt Kuchar and JB Holmes selected as wildcards by Team USA captain Davis Love
Team America skipper's choices surprise no one but double Masters champ Bubba Watson is now sweating on a place
RICKIE FOWLER, Matt Kuchar and JB Holmes have been named as three of the four wildcard picks for the USA Ryder Cup side.
That means America skipper Davis Love has left two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson sweating on a place.
Love's choices came as little surprise with fan favourite Fowler, rock-steady Kuchar and monster-hitting Holmes the obvious candidates.
However Watson, who famously revved up the crowd on the first tee at Medinah in 2012, will have to wait till September 25 to find out if he is the final selection for the 12-man team.
Love, speaking at Hazeltine where the battle will take place later this month, said: "There were questions as late as last night but we kept coming back to these three.
"We were really close two weeks ago to this but it took us until last night to finish it off.
"Rickie is so excited to be on the team again. We found no weakness in his game.
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"He is such a great team-mate and confident on the big stage, he brings a lot of intangibles to our team.
"JB is so steady, easy to pair, has a lot of experience, is consistent and been on a winning Ryder Cup team in the past.
"I've been on a lot of teams with Matt and he has a great attitude for match play.
"Like JB he is consistent and easy to pair. These three guys are who we all really wanted.
"This was a tough decision and we have another tough decision coming up in two weeks."
And it turned out that Fowler, who did not make the PGA Tour top-30 for next week's season-ending Tour Championship, was the one who actually kept Love waiting for confirmation.
He said: "I got a text from Davis asking if I could pop on a phone call and I had to make him wait for a few minutes as we were on a plane but it made the day a lot better after just missing out on East Lake."