Who will Pavin pick ??

Tonight at PGA headquarters in New Jersey, Corey Pavin will sit down with Julius Mason of the PGA and his co-captains, Tom Lehman, Davis Love, Paul Goydos and Jeff Sluman via phone from South Korea.

They will probably sit until the wee hours debating all the pros and cons of who their 4 captains picks will be..

Mickelson 2, Stricker 4, D Johnson 24, Mahan 13, Watson 25, Furyk 6, Overton 46 and Kuchar 10 are already in  (number is World Ranking)

Woods 1, Z Johnson 17,Cink 36, Kim 16, Glover 30, Van Pelt 43, Crane 44, Barnes, Watney 29, O'Hair 22, Fowler 32, R Palmer and RMoore 47 are all in the mix as picks..

Apart from Tiger, Z Johnson, Cink and Kim none of them have played in the Ryder Cup.

I believe they have to pick Tiger and in fact they should. Despite his indifferent form and his spotty Ryder Cup record (25 matches 10-13-2) Julius Mason will point out on behalf of the PGA and NBC etal the financial implications of his possible absence.

That aside, he will be the rallying point for this squad, playing well or poorly. If he finds something between now and October and plays well it will be a bonus. If he struggles his teammates will rally around him even more than usual now that he has lost his teflon shield, and don't forget he gets help in this format. Pavin can pair him with Furyk to make sure the ball is in the fairway at least half the time if Tiger struggles off the tee.

Zack Johnson played in 2006 with a 1-2-1 record but is playing well right now and Stewart Cink has been a steady eddie for the past 4 Ryder Cups and remember they are both major champions, the ultimate status amongst these 24 guys, and I believe they will be picked...

Now you get down to the last pick and you can make arguments for them all. Palmer and Moore have been red hot of late, none strike it better than Sean O'Hair according to our pal Sean Foley, and O'Hair and Mahan are stablemates who know each others games so well, Kim would be automatic if not for his injury.

So in a team that has a blend of experience ( Woods, Mickelson, Furyk, Stricker, Cink, ZJohnson and Mahan, and rookies in Watson, Overton, Kuchar D Johnson) I am going to suggest Rickie Fowler. He is T49 playing today at the Deutsche Bank and has been in form. More important I think the team will adopt him as their baby and he may well replace Kim as the sparkplug. Also remember the McIlroy's, Kaymer's and Molinari's of this Euro team will be around for years to come, so the Yanks will need young Mr Fowler for the future as well as the present.

This is who they are up against..

Monty, D Clarke, Bjorn, McGinley and Sergio are the captains

Westwood 3, McIlroy 7, Kaymer 5, McDowell 14, Poulter 12, Fisher 26, F Molinari 35, EMolinari 15, MJimenez 38, P Hanson 40, Harrington 19, Donald 11.. (number is world ranking)

Deutsche Bank

The final round is underway at the TPC @ Boston

1.Jason Day -5, 66 -17 196
2.Brandt Snedeker -4,67, -16 197
3.Luke Donald -5,66 -15 198
4.Steve Stricker -4, 67,-13 200

are the leaders..

Keeping an eye on Tiger, T23 , -2, 69 -7. 206....... Mickelson T6 -4, 67 -12 201 (could get to #1) and Adam Scott T6-6,65, 201 who has had a great return to form this year with only 4 cuts missed in 23 starts and 7 T10's who won this in 2003.

Stephen Ames started the day T41 after a +4 75 yesterday..

The top 70 go through to the BMW in Chicago next week

By the way congrats to 46 year old Miguel Jimenez, who delighted his captain Monty by winning the Omega European Masters in Switzerland yesterday

BryanAngus