• Ryder Cup

Watson trims captain's picks

ESPN staff
March 20, 2013
Tom Watson keen to get Team USA back to winning ways

Team USA Ryder Cup captain Tom Watson has announced he will reduce the number of captain's picks from four to three.

Revealing a change in the selection process, Watson said he would be taking the top nine players off the Ryder Cup standings and selecting three players as captain's picks for the event next year at Gleneagles in Scotland.

"I am going to reduce the number of captain's picks from four to three," Watson said on rydercup.com. "I truly think the players themselves ought to get another shot at getting on the team because of their play."

In previous years only eight Americans made the team with the captain having a choice of four picks, and this is the 63-year-old's first major decision since being appointed last year to lead the USA in the 40th staging of the Ryder Cup.

Watson is the oldest captain in Ryder Cup history, but he is content that the age gap between himself and the players will not prove to be a problem.

He said: "I have started the process of getting to know the players on the PGA Tour. I know the players to a certain degree, but I will get to know them more over the next 18 months.

"Old age and wisdom sometimes helps the process. The one thing I know is if the players take ownership of this process they will do well. It is my job to get the players in the right frame of mind."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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