American Ryder Cup Team Selected

With his tie for second in the PGA Championship at Oakland Hills, Ben Curtis secured an automatic berth on the 2008 U.S. Ryder Cup team. Curtis moved from No. 20 to the seventh spot, after finishing even with Sergio Garcia, two strokes behind champion Padraig Harrington.

The Ryder Cup will take place at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky., September 18-21.

"I've had my eye on Ben Curtis for a long time and I really believe that Ben Curtis is going to add a lot to this team," U.S. Captain Paul Azinger said in a press conference Monday morning to introduce his eight automatic bids. "So I could not be more excited for him. I have not talked to him yet, and it's going to be kind of like a consolation prize a little bit for him. He played terrific this week. He didn't lose the PGA, Padraig Harrington went out and won it and Ben played terrific all the way to the end."

Also receiving spots were: 1. Phil Mickelson; No. 2 Stewart Cink; 3. Kenny Perry; No. 4 Jim Furyk; 5. Anthony Kim; No. 6 Justin Leonard; No. 7. Curtis; No. 8. Boo Weekley.

"We've got eight established players," Azinger said. "I'm really excited about who we have on the team."

The final four players on the 12-man American squad will be selected by Azinger. He will announce his captain's selections on September 2 in a 10 a.m. press conference at the Radisson Martinique in New York City. "The next three weeks are going to be really important for the remainder of the PGA Tour because as I look at it right now anybody can get on this team," he said. "I have some really good friends that play this Tour that are out there with chances to get on this team, and there's a bunch of guys who I don't know, at all, who have an opportunity to get on this team, and some of them are close."

Europe's 10 automatic bids will be announced August 31st, the same day that Nick Faldo will make his two captain's selections.

The Americans will be trying to unravel a European string of victories in the Ryder Cup without their top player, Tiger Woods, who's still recuperating from surgery on his left knee. The Americans have lost three straight times to the Europeans - including two in record fashion, 18½ - 9½ defeats at Oakland Hills in 2004 and the K Club in 2006.

"We lost the best player in the game, Tiger Woods, and we are all going to have to step up," Azinger said. "We are going to take on an underdog role in this Ryder Cup for the first time in a long time, even on paper, when you look at the strength of the European squad.

"So we are going to have everything to gain here, and what we are going to try to do, what I would like to do is have everything come together and have each other's back," he added. "I plan on getting input from the two guys on the phone, as well as the other six guys that are not on the phone that qualified for this team, so that we can make four good picks."