Steve Stricker wakes up some early mornings and isn’t able to fall back asleep. Actually, I know, as he admitted it’s one of the most tangible effect of being leader of a U.S. golf team. “I’m thinking about things a lot,” said the U.S. Presidents Cup captain on Sunday night. “It’s probably the hardest part of the captaincy, making sure you make the right the right picks.” Even on the Labor Day weekend, when Striker was moving his daughter back to college, he found himself on the phone with vice captains Tiger Woods and Davis Love III. “I haven’t been able to watch much on TV,” Stricker said after the third round of the Dell Technologies Championship. “I’ve been following it on the phone. Every half hour I’m getting out of there to see how guys are doing.” What he saw as it relates to players on the bubble at TPC Boston was not much of a case for picking Charley Hoffman (10th on the points list, with the top 10 securing automatic spots), Kevin Chappell (11) or Brian Harman (12). “It’s an important part of the team,” Stricker said. “You want to make sure the two guys you pick are going to fit with the team. Hopefully they’re playing good.
It’s a big decision, and I think about it quite often.” What he thinks often about are Phil Mickelson, especially as he is trying to make a case for himself with rounds of 69-67-69 in Boston. “It’s weird,” Stricker admitted. “I had a talk with him [at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational] in Akron. Here I am asking Phil Mickelson to show me something for the rest of the year. Here’s a guy with 12 tour wins asking a guy with 40-something tour wins and five majors, asking him to show me something before the end of the year. It just doesn’t seem quite right.” What sounds right is that with one round to play and the picks announced on Wednesday night, Mickelson has a real chance at age 47, with only one top-10 in 2017 since March, to make his 12th Presidents Cup team. “Phil’s in a position where, I don’t know how to say it, I’d like to see him play well,” Stricker said. “I know how much he means to the team, not only as a player, but a guy that’s in the team room. He means a lot. I don’t know if any guy outside the top 10 can say that. He’s just really good in the team room and that’s vital. I’d like to see him show something this week, which is great to see.”