Alex Miceli - August 29, 2012

• By Morning Drive Team
• Aug 29, 2012 7:18 AM ET

Golf Channel Contributor Alex Miceli is in Norton, Massachusetts this week for the Deutsche Bank Championship. Since Davis Love III held his news conference after the PGA Championship, a lot has changed when it comes to the players who could be among the four Captain’s Picks. The system was revised in order to make sure that the U.S. team had the hottest players in golf at that moment and based on that idea, Watney should be a pick. However, that is far from definite because Watney has never played in a Ryder Cup and he does not have a good history at TPC Boston.

Jim Furyk went 5-0-0 in the 2011 Presidents Cup and brings a perfect veteran presence to the U.S. team while Stricker is a great partner for Tiger Woods so those two players in his opinion are locks. The other two picks will be among Hunter Mahan, Dustin Johnson, Brandt Snedeker, and Nick Watney. A lot will depend on this week and it is quite likely that Davis Love III will be deciding his picks within hours of the public announcement on September 4th.

Length will not be an issue for Europe because their players are long enough off the tee and the rough will not be high either which benefits both teams. Medinah has big greens that are difficult to read and if putting ends up being the deciding factor, the U.S. team has a bit of an advantage over Europe in Miceli’s opinion.

He is not sure whether or not Tiger Woods is on form or not heading into the Ryder Cup. He has never seen a player who won 3 times in 1 year be so inconsistent on the golf course. Miceli said that he thought that Tiger would definitely contend at Bethpage Black last week but after a pretty good start, he faded on the weekend. The weaknesses and inconsistencies in Tiger’s game at this point make it difficult to say that Tiger is on form heading to Medinah.