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CARMEL, Ind. -- The idea was sound and made plenty of sense: wait a few weeks to make the captains picks to see if players who did not qualify for the U.S. Ryder Cup team might get on a roll, turn some heads.With three of Davis Love IIIs four at-large picks looming on Monday morning, it is difficult to imagine the U.S. captain having much clarity at this point.Unless Love has made up his mind on one or more of the picks, regardless of how they played this week at the BMW Championship, those who are in contention for the picks are not making things any easier at Crooked Stick.With the help of vice captains Tom Lehman, Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk (who is also in the running for a pick) and Tiger Woods, Love is sorting through all the relevant information at this point.There are some things we are looking for, things that Tiger and Tom Lehman have said, look, lets take a look at this, see who is doing this in this group of players, Love said the day after the eight automatic qualifiers became official at the Barclays.I keep saying the statisticians are going to help us with this, but those eight players on our team and the four assistant captains, they are pretty good golfers. They know whats going on. They know the players. They know who they want to play with.But if were looking for one particular reason to choose between two guys, then were going to dive into the stats a little bit more. Are we looking for a great wedge player to match up with this guy? Are we looking for a great driver to match up with another guy?Our alternate-shot is a big part of how we pair, how we pick. So its going to be looking at Hazeltine, how it suits certain players. I think theres going to be two obvious picks and theres going to be two were going to have to waffle about a little bit, and the stats will help us narrow that down.The eight American automatic qualifiers are?Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Jimmy Walker, Brooks Koepka, Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson.Koepka is the only rookie, so that could give Love some options as far as picking someone new. Love will make his final pick on Sept. 25 after the Tour Championship ends. As the final round unfolds on Sunday, here is a list of potential candidates, how they are faring and what their prospects might be. Keep in mind that a few of these guys might already be part of Loves plans regardless of how they are faring.Bubba Watson, 9th in final points, T-17 at Crooked Stick after 54 holesPositives: He is ranked seventh in the world, finished ninth in the points, won at Riviera earlier this year, finished second at Doral and is a long hitter.Negatives: Has not contended since the WGC event at Doral in March. Has a poor Ryder Cup record that includes going 0-3 in singles. His only top-10 in his past 10 events was a tie for eighth at the Olympics.J.B. Holmes, 10th in final points, 3rd at Crooked Stick after 54 holesPositives: Long hitter who has top-5s in two major championships this year and was a solid performer in his previous Ryder Cup experience, a U.S. win in 2008.Negatives: In his past five events, he has three missed cuts and hasnt cracked the top 30. Hes trying to make a last-minute impression here.Rickie Fowler, 11th in final points, T-59 at Crooked Stick after 54 holesPositives: Ranked ninth in the world, teamed well with Jimmy Walker at 2014 Ryder Cup, contended at Barclays.Negatives: Seems like a long time ago that he won in Abu Dhabi; has had two 54-hole leads since. And that Ryder Cup record of 0-3-5 is bizarre.Matt Kuchar, 12th in final points, T-5 at Crooked Stick after 54 holesPositives: Going back to the Players Championship, has seven top-10 finishes, a consistent performer who has played in three previous Ryder Cups. His 63 to win a bronze at the Olympics was a big moment.Negatives: Hasnt won this year and is 4-6-2 overall in the Ryder Cup. He went 1-3 at Gleneagles in 2014, although he did win his singles match.Jim Furyk, 15th in final points, did not qualify for Crooked StickPositives: A respected and solid player who has earned the second-most Ryder Cup points since June, finished second at the U.S. Open and shot 58 at the Travelers Championship. Still finished 15th in points despite playing only 14 tournaments this year due to injury at the start of the season.Negatives: His 10-20-4 Ryder Cup record means he has lost the most matches in U.S. history, considered part of the old guard that has not fared well and didnt make the third leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs.Daniel Berger, 16th in final points, T-12 at Crooked Stick after 54 holesPositives: Won in Memphis in June, viewed as a young up-and-coming player who could be a future Ryder Cup player. Finished 16th due to missing a good bit of time due to injury.Negatives: Finished fifth at the Travelers Championship, where he held the third-round lead, is ranked 40th in the world with several others in contention ahead of him.Ryan Moore, 20th in points, T-62 at Crooked Stick after 54 holesPositives: Won the John Deere Classic, has two top-5s in the playoffs, would seemingly be the hot player Love is looking for.Negatives: A veteran player, Moore could manage only 20th in points and has never played in the Ryder Cup.Kevin Na, 22nd in points, T-12 at Crooked Stick after 54 holesPositives: Despite winning just once on the PGA Tour in his career, viewed as a gritty grinder who might get under the skin of the Europeans with his various quirks and slow-play tendencies. Good iron player and short game, too, plus he had three top-10s in his past seven starts.Negatives: Had a strong start to the season in the fall when the points did not count, then went into a lull before showing some life of late, but unable to crack the top 20 in points. Has never played in the Ryder Cup.Justin Thomas, 25th in points, T-48 at Crooked Stick after 54 holesPositives: Another young, up-and-coming player who might give the U.S. a spark. As a buddy of Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, that friendship has helped him. Won in Malaysia last fall, also when the points didnt count.Negatives: Since winning in Malaysia, has just four top-10s in 24 starts and has not really contended. Does his promising future deserve a pick?So now what? If Love truly had his mind made up on a couple of picks, expect those to be among Fowler, Kuchar and Furyk. Fowler was a member of the Ryder Cup Task Force that helped pick Love in the first place and has made an effort by playing more to get on the team. Furyk is widely respected among U.S players and will be there as a vice captain, too. Kuchar is a veteran who is well-liked and has played well.But should that stuff really matter? Dont results count for something?Love would be well served to take perhaps one of those three players, then look to others who have showed at least some form of late, perhaps Moore or Holmes. And then look outside the box to someone like Berger or Thomas. Experience, especially in the case of the U.S., has proven to be overrated. Look at Patrick Reed, who as a rookie in 2014 proved to be the best performer.One thing is certain: nobody in the running has made such a compelling case that they should be considered an absolute lock.Anton Khudobin Jersey . 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With the first unit struggling of late and Amir Johnson - one of the teams iron men - hobbling on an injured right ankle, Patterson knew he could get the nod in a challenging matchup against one of the leagues up and coming players at his position.Charles Davis excellent statistical analysis of appeals prompted me to look back on recent internationals and contemplate some hypothetical rule changes that cricket might wish to embrace.I have watched almost every ball of the recent series in India, Australia and New Zealand involving the home teams versus England, South Africa and Pakistan respectively. It is apparent now that the referral process has moved light years away from its original mandate of being a safeguard against the howler. It is now a very valuable strategic tool that can change the momentum of a match if used judiciously (or vice versa - used poorly, it can significantly negatively impact a team). To see Joe Root backing up at the non-strikers end, almost directly in line with the umpire, so he can get a better angle on lbw decisions, presumably to advise his partner on whether to review or not, just shows how the thinking around the DRS has developed an acute strategic focus.The strategic element has come about because of the limited number of unsuccessful referrals available to each team. It is now common to see captains doing the arithmetic to calculate how many overs they have left before they get their full quota of referrals back and then deciding on whether to challenge an umpires decision or not. That pragmatic decision-making process is so far away from the original raison detre of the DRS as to make everything else that sits around it redundant too.Not many teams bowl their allotted overs in the specified time frame anyway, so why persist with the argument that allowing unlimited referrals would slow down the game? It is slow already. Unless the ICC gets serious about enforcing over rates, things wont change much, so why not invest a bit more time in getting every decision correct? Pakistan bowled 30-plus overs of spin on the first day at the Gabba and were still late finishing (even allowing for an injury delay). As it is, umpires make no effort to stop batsmen from changing gloves and taking drinks whenever they want, so clearly they are not serious about enforcing over rates. Some batsmen, like Steve Smith, seem to ask for a change of gloves within a few minutes of the previous change.So if umpires are not sure about a 50-50 call, why not give them the power to check with the third umpire, thereby ensuring the decision arrived at is the correct one? In most other sports, rugby for example, the referee calls for a video replay if he is not sure. Getting decisions correct is more important in most sports than time delays. Except cricket, which continues to pretend to care about punctuality but does very little to meaningfully enforce it.The number of poor referrals makes you wonder why the players are getting it wrong so often, especially when it looks so obvious to those watching at home on television. Perhaps the players themselves are not in the best position to hear nicks or judge angles and height. So if they are penalised by only being allowed to get two referrals wrong every 80 overs in Tests (one per innings in ODIs), should we not also, for the sake of balance, find some way to penalise umpires for getting two wrong decisions in that samee time frame? After all, they have the best view in the stadium and their sole job is to concentrate on these matters (not on catching, bowling, batting and so on).dddddddddddd If the umpires get it wrong more than x number of times within a specified time frame, how about if both teams get a referral back for that period? It doesnt seem fair otherwise that umpires are allowed to make mistake after mistake and there are no immediate on-field penalties. It got to the point in a recent Test match where the commentators were actually saying on air that the players would be better off not referring a decision made by Richard Kettleborough (because he tended to get it right) and to save their referrals for the other umpire instead. Surely it is a sign that the system is flawed when teams are making strategic decisions about which umpire to target?If an umpire was allowed to ask for a review for lbws and snicks (like they do for run out or stumped), he then makes the correct decision and it eliminates the need for each team to have a quota. Maybe give them one referral per innings, to deal with the absolute shocker, but if they get it wrong, a serious penalty - 25 runs? - is levied.Then theres the other ridiculous rule that if the batsman leaves the field of play, he cannot be recalled. Given that so many of crickets other antiquated laws have changed, this remains a dinosaur in a post-Jurassic world. Surely if there is clear evidence that the batsman should be recalled, why does it matter if hes halfway to the dressing room? The integrity of the correct decision is surely more important than some law from a bygone era that is no longer relevant in a sport where we are now allowed concussion substitutes, and soon even red cards. Another aspect of such situations is that they also have the potential to create bad blood and inflame tensions, especially in the case of fielders claiming low catches, when batsmen are asked to hang around until inconclusive replays are adjudicated on - with the fielding team then rounding on the batsman for supposedly not taking the fielders word that it was a fair catch.There is another aspect to this sort of situation - fielders appear mortally wounded when their integrity is questioned on low catches but have no similar moral conundrums if they appeal for catches that are clearly not out, or lbws that clip the inside edge, or if a batsman nicks the ball and stands impassively defiant when given not out. It appears that within the sport we have different layers of morality.Cheating is a dirty word but not walking when you nick it, shining the ball with a mint sweet, or stealing a yard at the non-strikers end are clearly de rigeur. At the professional level it is no longer a game of honour, governed by rules forged in that spirit. It is a ruthless, cutthroat business, so perhaps the laws need to move even further to ensure that technology allows us to reach the correct decision. What other sport allows the excuse of delays to corrupt the integrity of the decision-making process? ' ' '