Love: Fowler an obvious pick for Ryder Cup

Davis Love III reassured Rickie Fowler that he is is an “obvious pick” for the Ryder Cup after he missed out on automatic qualification for the United States team at The Barclays on Sunday.

Fowler looked set to book his spot in Love’s side when he started the final round with a one-shot advantage over Patrick Reed at Bethpage Black, but could only finish in a share of seventh when he needed a top-three finish to ensure he will face Europe once again.

Reed took the title and an automatic place in the US team, with Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson also assured of their participation in the event, which starts next month at Hazeltine National Golf Club.

Love must pick another four players and it would appear that Fowler will be among the quartet to get the nod.

“We are really excited about our chances,” Love told Sky Sports News HQ.

“It was great to see Patrick play so well, and Ricky.

“Ricky is trending up, he is starting to make a whole lot of putts. Unfortunately, all his bogeys seemed to come in the last nine holes, but he had a great week as well and is hitting the ball very well.

“Certainly, you want to secure your position, you want to be in that top eight. He wanted it desperately and it might have hurt him a little bit coming down the stretch.

“But he is playing well, he was in good spirits last night. He is excited about his chances in the play-offs and, if he keeps up this kind of play, he is going to be an obvious pick.”

European captain Darren Clarke names his three wildcard picks on Tuesday and Love thinks he has advantage over the Northern Irishman, who already has five rookies in his team compared to the United States’ solitary debutant Brooks Koepka.

He added: “It gives me a lot of flexibility, I do not have to worry about picking veterans, I have got them on my team already.

“I can freewheel it a bit on my picks, make good pairings.

“Darren, on the other hand, has got a bunch of rookies. He has only got three picks, he has got to look for some experience maybe.

“I love our team, and love where we are going. I have got two weeks to watch them play and pick three, and then another two weeks and a last-minute pick after the Tour Championship.

“We have got a lot of flexibility and we will make sure we get the hottest players on our team.

“We are going to sit down and start making some pairings but, as Tiger [vice-captain Woods] told me over the weekend, we have got a lot of golf to watch before we can narrow this down.”