Ryder Cup 2012: Top Golfers Snubbed by Davis Love III

Davis Love III has officially made his selections, and the 2012 Ryder Cup team has been set in stone.

And while Jim Furyk, Dustin Johnson, Steve Stricker and Brandt Snedeker are all worthwhile selections—and while most of them have the requisite experience to give the U.S. a chance of winning—Davis left out a couple of PGA stars who could have been just as impactful.

Here's a look at the biggest snubs from this year's Ryder Cup team. 

Rickie Fowler

Back in 2010, Fowler was selected to his first Ryder Cup team at the age of 21, establishing himself as the youngest-ever American Ryder Cup player. His 2010 experience wasn't without its blemishes and controversies, but he has experience, and he's shown flashes of brilliance this season that indicate he could've been an asset.

Fowler won the Wells Fargo in a playoff in May, and he followed that up with a tie for second in The Players Championship, as well as a tie for fifth at the Crowne Plaza Invitational.

It's clear that inconsistency is one thing that kept Fowler off this team—that, and his recent play. He hasn't registered a top-10 finish since the Crowne Plaza Invitational, and he missed the cut at the PGA Championship less than a month ago.  

Hunter Mahan

According to GolfWeek's Alex Miceli, via Fox Sports, Mahan was very recently on the short list of possible Ryder Cup contenders, but Davis ultimately opted for the others, probably because they've been more impressive lately.

Even though Mahan has registered two PGA Tour wins in 2012 and four top-10 finishes, his play of late hasn't suggested that he'd be a sure thing to lead the U.S. to victory. In two of his last three outings, he's missed the cut (at the PGA Championship and at The Barclays), and his last top-10 finish came in July at the AT&T National.

Mahan may have a couple of wins this year at the Accenture Match Play Championship and at the Houston Open, but like Fowler, his inconsistency of late made him too risky a selection. 

Nick Watney

True, Watney is still relatively unproven, and true, prior to his win at The Barclays, he'd become somewhat infamous for his epic failures. But Watney turned a huge corner with his win a couple of weeks ago, and if he kept it up, he could have come up big for this Ryder Cup team.

Unfortunately, that was a rather large if.

Watney's recent history has been characterized by high highs and low lows. One of the highs: A three-stroke win over Snedeker at The Barclays a couple of weeks ago. He also has four top-10 finishes this year.

One of the lows: After Day 1 of the PGA Championship, Watney was holding strong with a first-round 73. Then, on Day 2, he registered four bogeys and three double-bogeys to play himself completely out of contention.

If he struggled like that at the Ryder Cup, it would have been a huge blow to the U.S. team, and that was obviously a risk Love was unwilling to take. But if Watney—who currently ranks second in FedExCup points—played the way he did at The Barclays, he could have made a difference.