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Haas Misses the Mark With Presidents Cup Captain’s Picks

By Sam Belden

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Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

On Tuesday, Team USA Captain Jay Haas made his two captain’s picks for this year’s Presidents Cup. Predictably, Bill Haas (his son) and Phil Mickelson will be joining their ten new teammates and the members of Team International at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea next month for four full days of match play competition.

If you’re the sentimental type, then these probably sound like the perfect selections to you. For the elder Haas–who never won a major, never won a WGC and never won a Player of the Year award–captaining the Presidents Cup has to be the ultimate thrill of a long career, and he now gets to share that experience with his son, who has followed in his footsteps as a pro golfer. There’s little doubt that the two men are in for a memorable week in South Korea.

Mickelson, meanwhile, might just be the most beloved figure in American golf. The five-time major champion is still in pursuit of the career Grand Slam and still entertaining fans of all ages with his creative shots and nice-guy demeanor. If Haas was going for a crowd-pleaser, he succeeded.

Unfortunately, the general appeal of these picks is clouding an essential truth: golf-wise, Team USA would be better off if Haas had chosen different players. The younger Haas may have finished 11th in Presidents Cup points–in effect, he was the last man left off of the team–but that doesn’t mean that he was necessarily the best person to tab.

With a pair of top 10 finishes in his last seven starts, his form is only mildly good, and prior to that stretch, he had missed three consecutive cuts.

With a middling record in his two previous Presidents Cup appearances, Haas isn’t even much of a match player. A steady season and a healthy dose of nepotism were apparently enough to land him on the team.

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Shifting our focus towards Mickelson, we can see that the 45-year-old hasn’t notched a top 10 since June. Yes, he was co-runner-up at the Masters back in April, but if that were adequate, we would have seen Jonas Blixt sporting the Team Europe colors in the Ryder Cup last September.

It seems that, as one of the most accomplished players of his era, Mickelson is being judged by a different set of criteria than everyone else. Some would call that fair, but there are a slew of younger, hungrier, better American players out there, all of whom could use the match play experience.

Mickelson has been at this so long that he’s appeared in every single Presidents Cup ever played–he doesn’t need any more reps. Besides, remember his performance at last fall’s Ryder Cup, when he could only muster enough energy to play in three matches? If that’s the Mickelson who shows up this year, no one is going to be pleased.

Who could serve as viable replacements for Haas and Mickelson? Take your pick. Brooks Koepka, currently the world No. 17, has missed his last two cuts but was on an impressive run before that. Brandt Snedeker’s season was more consistent than that of Haas or Mickelson.

Robert Streb, one of the breakout players of 2015-16, is currently a better bet to show up on the front page of a leaderboard than most of the players on Team USA at the moment. Charley Hoffman has had a number of good results this year and just recorded a solo third at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Ultimately, none of these guys ever had much of a shot to make the team. From some Captain Haas’ comments, it’s clear that Mickelson has the respect and adoration of just about every American player; not picking him could have been a real faux pas in the eyes of his team.

Meanwhile, there was probably never a doubt that the younger Haas would be one of the two selections. Apparently, the vice-captains were in full support of the pick, but come on–if your boss had the chance to share in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with his son, wouldn’t you let him? This was inevitable.

The younger Haas and Mickelson are a pair of good, accomplished players, but they’re not the ideal choices for Team USA. Captain Haas made a decision with his heart instead of one with his head. Now, he can only hope that it doesn’t come back to haunt him.

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