Finau rounds out US Ryder Cup team

United States captain Jim Furyk has named Tony Finau as his final wild-card pick for the Ryder Cup.

Tony Finau

World No.17 Tony Finau has been sele3cted as the 12th and final member of the US Ryder Cup team. (AAP)

Tony Finau has been named to the US Ryder Cup team, the final pick by captain Jim Furyk.

Finau, who turns 29 on Thursday, joins Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods as Furyk's four wild-card selections.

He has 11 top-10s this season, including three in majors, and his place was announced after he finished in a tie for eighth at the BMW Championship in Philadelphia.

"I never thought I was on that team until I got that call," Finau said Monday.

"It's definitely cool to accomplish something like this and to be able to play as well as I have under the circumstances, it's something I'm extremely proud of."

The eight Americans who qualified for the team were Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson, Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed.

The Ryder Cup team includes three rookies (Finau, DeChambeau and Justin Thomas) and nine major champions (with 31 total major victories).

"There won't be any locker room noise with me," Finau said.

"I can play with anyone. I feel that my personality is just that way.

"I can bring the best out of different guys playing with them, and them the same to me.

"I'm pretty easy to play with. And I'm playing some good golf, some world-class golf."

His appeal is that he makes a lot of birdies, which is critical in match play.

He was paired with Furyk the first two days at the PGA Championship and struggled in the opening round before he tied a championship record by making 10 birdies in the second round.

"He has an unbelievable body of work this year," Furyk said.

"All those top-10 finishes, the play in big championships and the majors, and then his current form, a second, a fourth and an eighth in the playoffs.

"He checked a lot of boxes and made it impossible not to pick him."

The 2018 Ryder Cup will be staged at Le Golf National, just outside Paris, which is hosting the event for the first time.

Team Europe, captained by Thomas Bjorn, contains new world No.1 Justin Rose, along with Paul Casey, Tommy Fleetwood, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Ian Poulter, Jon Rahm and Henrik Stenson.


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Source: AAP


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