Charley Hoffman shined a little too late for Ryder Cup selection?
The day the US Ryder Cup team is finalised and the day Charley Hoffman won the Deutsche Bank Championship have somewhat overlapped. No matter how well Charley performed, he might have been a little too late in impressing Captain Corey Pavin. Hoffman won the Deutsche Bank Championship that took place in Boston on September 6th. A day later, Pavin is set to announce his wildcard picks, will Corey decide to look at our most recent winner or go on with what he has already decided? No one really knows.
On the day of the Deutsche Bank Final, D.J Trahan and Adam Scott were outside laughing and relaxing as the final moments of the Championship were being played by Hoffman. As Mickelson emerged to join them, he was told that they are waiting to congratulate Hoffman, who is a long time friend of both the players. The players have a pretty friendly relationship with each other even though some of them are in the race to be named the Captain’s wildcards on Tuesday.
Just near the day when the team get’s finalized, Hoffman scores the most impressive round of his career. He really took control of the TPC Boston with 11 birdies in a closing 62 to win by five strokes. He tied the tournament’s 72-hole scoring record at 22 under par. Now is it really fair to Pavin that a potential candidate for Ryder Cup just emerges right at the eleventh hour? Not really. There has been news that the three slots will be given to Zach Johnson, Tiger Woods and Stewart Cink. The aforementioned players have been performing well and have most definitely impressed Pavin.
Their performance has been judged on an overall basis and they haven’t really stood out specially in order to be noticed by Pavin. No one has really asked to be considered. Not until yesterday, when the native San Diegan completed his fourth top-10 finish and dominated one of the most competent fields of the year.
"Hopefully, Mr. Pavin sees that," Hoffman said. "I'd love to represent the U.S. and be on that team. There's no question that I think I can contribute to that team".
To the general public, it may only seem fair to add Hoffman to the Ryder team because of the remarkable play he has shown. However, we don’t know what Corey wants. Pavin might be looking for the best players right now- for which Hoffman can keep his hopes up, or the captain could be going for a much more technical team. Technical- just like Captain Colin Montgomerie was last week when he finalized the team keeping the complimentary pairs crucial for the two-man aspect of the competition in mind.
According to Cink, the winner of the Deutsche tournament will not make much of a difference to Pavin’s selections unless he was already in a small circle. Speaking of which-Hoffman hasn’t really discussed Ryder with Pavin so he is not really ‘in the circle’. Word is that the captain has already talked with those expected to make the cut, now that can’t mean good news for Hoffman. Last time, Charley actually influenced the assistant Ryder captain, Paul Goydos for a place in the team.
It would be a pretty shocking thing if Charley Hoffman makes the Ryder team. Not having played in any major championships this year, he was 59th in Ryder Cup points. The first five months of the season, he was barely noticed. He entered the event ranked number 132 in the World rankings.
His pregnant wife Stacy watched Hoffman finish off his day with a mesmerizing 11th birdie, which were more under-par holes than what Stuart Appleby was able to achieve a whole year ago. Even though he had top 10 finishes at Turning Stone, John Deere, and the Canadian Open, not many people see him as a future Ryder cup player. When wife Stacy was asked about her husband’s chances, she said, “Hey, you never know right?”.
The way he was playing wasn’t of a great level, but recently Charley Hoffman really looks like he’s on top of his game. His chances for a Ryder Cup spot are minute if not zero, but we can certainly not say anything until the wildcards are announced. Even if he doesn’t end up in the Ryder team, Hoffman can always be proud of his amazing play and victory at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
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