US select Spieth for Presidents Cup

Spieth

United States captain Fred Couples has picked rookie Jordan Spieth and ex-US Open champion Webb Simpson as wildcards for next month’s Presidents Cup.

Spieth, 20, became the youngest PGA Tour winner for 82 years when he won the John Deere Classic  in July.

“Can’t even describe what it means to represent USA,” Spieth said on Twitter.

International captain Nick Price chose Australian Marc Leishman and Zimbabwe’s Brendon de Jonge for the Ryder Cup-style event in Ohio from  October 3 to 6.

There was no place on the US team for world number 15 Jim Furyk,  43, who has been part of every US Ryder Cup and President’s Cup team since 1997.

Furyk was 13th on the qualifying list after claiming six top-10 finishes, including runner-up to Jason Dufner in last month’s PGA Championship.

Couples said, “I told him last night that he wasn’t on the team through a text and would talk to him today, because I just couldn’t handle it, to be honest.”

Simpson, who won the US Open in 2012, was beaten to the last of the 10 automatic places on this year’s team when former Masters champion Zach Johnson holed a 26-foot birdie putt for a share of 29th place in last week’s Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.

The 28-year-old has recorded three top-10 finishes in strokeplay events this year, including second place at the RBC Heritage in April.

Couples, captaining the team for the third time, caused controversy when he left Keegan Bradley out of his team in 2011, shortly after his US PGA victory.