By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. -- We won’t know for another month who will be the captains’ picks for this year’s U.S. and European Ryder Cup teams, but Davis Love III and Jose Maria Olazabal offered at least some insight on Wednesday.

“We'll be plugging holes, matching pairings,” Love said. “Obviously if Steve Stricker was on the outside, we have a guy that likes to play with him that's a lock.”

Tiger Woods is that lock as he’s the only player on either side to have mathematically secured a spot.

As Love indicated, Woods has had success alongside Stricker. The two compiled a 6-2 record when paired together in the last three international team competitions (2-1 in the 2010 Ryder Cup, 0-1 and 4-0 in each of the last two Presidents Cups).

Stricker is currently 10th in the standings. Only the top eight players after this week’s PGA Championship will automatically make the U.S. team, however. Love will then make four captain’s picks Sept. 4.

Others on the outside looking in include Hunter Mahan, who has won twice this season, at No. 9, and Jim Furyk, who had leads late into the U.S. Open and last week’s World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, at No. 11. Furyk also finished second in Tampa, losing a playoff Luke Donald.

Rickie Fowler, who won earlier this year at Quail Hollow, is No. 12, while Brandt Snedeker, Dustin Johnson and Bo Van Pelt round out the top 15.

But as we saw with Keegan Bradley, a player can make a big leap in the standings with a win -- particularly this week with double points being awarded (players receive two points for every $1,000 in prize money earned). That means everyone down to Matt Every at No. 37 has a chance to earn an automatic spot with a victory at the PGA Championship.

“It just shows you that we are strong and all of the guys at the top are taking turns playing well,” Love said.  “There's a lot of golf to be watched. Fifty-one days (until the Ryder Cup), there's three tournaments after this week. I would think somebody can get really hot that we are not even looking at.”

One player Love will be looking at is an ice cold Phil Mickelson, who is on the bubble of earning one of those automatic spots at No. 8 in the standings.

Mickelson, who won at Pebble Beach earlier this year, has just one finish inside the top 25 on the PGA TOUR since April. At one point during that span, he failed to break par in nine consecutive rounds -- the longest such streak of his career. He’s also missed the cut in two of his last three starts, including at the British Open, and admitted to being “lethargic” the last two months.

If Mickelson were to struggle again this week, he could drop in the standings and that might force Love to use one of his picks on the veteran of eight Ryder Cups and nine Presidents Cups.

“I think he and Steve and a lot of guys are trying really hard to make the team, and that might be hurting them a little bit,” Love said. “We have all been there; the last few weeks, you press a little bit, you try a little too hard.”

Olazabal is facing a similar dilemma with Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington, who have played in five and six Ryder Cups, respectively. They are 12th and 29th in the current standings, though Europe’s top 10 players won’t become final until the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles later this month.

Europe’s team will be comprised of the top five players from the Ryder Cup European points list and the top five not otherwise qualified from the world points list. Olazabal will add two captain’s picks the day after Europe’s top 10 spots become final.

“He's a great team player,” Olazabal said of Garcia. “His spirit is always really good, and in that regard I think he's a great asset to the team. It's true that at the moment his game is a little bit off. Pairing-wise, he's proved the last few Ryder Cups he can play with anybody, and he's done well. I think that's very important. If you are looking at the players to be on your team, Sergio would certainly be one of them for sure.”

Harrington’s chances seem far more tenuous.

“He has to do really extraordinary well,” Olazabal said. “He's well down the list. He's a very methodical player. From tee-to-green, his game has been fairly good, but I think his putting has let him down this year so far. If he really does extraordinarily well, he can have a great chance of making the team still, but it's going to be up to him.”

Whoever Olazabal and Love pick, both men will lean on their assistant captains, among others, when it comes to making their selections.

Love added that he doesn’t yet have a hard list of player’s he’s considering when it comes to his picks. But he does have an idea of what characteristics he’s looking for.

“You want some hot putters,” Love said. “You might want another long'-ball hitter.

“This week is important, because it ends the points. But it's just as important as any of the guys who play at Greensboro or who plays well at Barclays. I would like to catch somebody that's hot this week and the next two tournaments they play.”

By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM Steve Stricker couldn't put his finger on it. Was he trying too hard on the back nine to win for a record-tying fourth straight time at the John Deere Classic? Or was he tiring out after a long week of questions, attention and all of that Stricker Slam talk? Turns out, the problem was something even more unusual -- especially considering the individual. Stricker couldn't catch Troy Matteson and eventual winner Zach Johnson at TPC Deere Run on Sunday in Silvis, Ill., because of his inconsistent putting. "Yeah, it was fun, but I think it's the putter," Stricker said after carding a 1-under 70 to finish tied for fifth, four shots back at 16 under. "I really don't have a ton of confidence with that putter. I wasn't feeling very good about it. That's the thing that you need to have working well to win." Stricker, long considered one of the top putters on the PGA TOUR, was second in the all-important Strokes Gained-Putting statistic last season. This year, he's 76th in that category. For whatever reason, he's struggled -- at least by his standards -- on the greens. On Sunday, Stricker missed a number of putts that would have put him closer to the top. In particular, Stricker singled out a missed 6-footer for par on the 14th and a three-putt bogey on the 15th. "I had a 5- or 6‑footer for par. If I made that, I think it could be a little bit different," Stricker said. "But that deflated me a little bit. If I could have 2‑putted on the next hole, you know, I would have been all right. I still figured we had some birdie holes coming up with 16, 17, and sometimes 18 you can make a birdie. But those couple holes there really kind of took a lot of steam out of me, 14, 15." Stricker still recorded his fifth top 10 of the season. He ranks 16th in FedExCup points and said he enjoyed the pressure of attempting to join Tom Morris, Jr., British Open (1868-70, 1872), Walter Hagen, PGA Championship (1924-27), Gene Sarazen, Miami Open (1926, 1928-30) and Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard (2000-03) and Farmers Insurance Open (2005-08) as the only golfers to win a tournament four times in succession. "You know, a lot of expectations, a lot of things going on here -‑ all good things, don't get me wrong ‑- but it takes a lot out of you, too," Stricker said. "Although I wish I could have been out there in a playoff or tried to have won again, yeah, I'm kind of glad it's over. Hopefully come back next year and start another one."

With a victory today at the John Deere Classic, Steve Stricker would ... 1. Become the fifth player in history to win a tournament four times in succession, joining Tom Morris, Jr., British Open (1868-70, 1872), Walter Hagen, PGA Championship (1924-27), Gene Sarazen, Miami Open (1926, 1928-30) and Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard (2000-03) and Farmers Insurance Open (2005-08). 2. Win for the 13th time on the PGA TOUR. 3. Notch his 10th of 13 career wins since he turned 40. Vijay Singh owns the TOUR record with 22 wins in his 40s, while Sam Snead is second with 17. 4. Projected to move inside the top 5 of the FedExCup standings. 5. Win multiple times in each of the past four seasons. Stricker talked with SiriusXM Satellite radio before his round. "I’ve got to do some catching up today," said Stricker, who was encouraged with the way he hit the ball at the range last night. "Just go out there and try to play my game. See if it’s good enough and see if I can put a little heat on Troy (Matteson) throughout the course of the day. "We’ll see what happens. It should be fun."

To me, the John Deere Classic could quite easily undergo a name change and become The Steve Stricker Classic without anyone, including John Deere, taking much offense.

Stricker has absolutely owned the event, winning the title for three years running, and he is an amazing 104 under par since 2000, when the event moved to TPC Deere Run.

How does he do it?

In short, with the scoring clubs -- the putter and the wedges. Stricker’s putting stroke is the envy of many PGA TOUR regulars, and a lot of them would happily let Strick putt for them when the chips were down. To me however, his performance with a wedge (inside 120 yards) is even more impressive than his proficiency with the putter.

In the first round on Thursday, Stricker holed a wedge shot from 80 yards on the 14th hole for eagle. The eagle was the catalyst to a stretch of five holes played in 4 under, and he wound up with a 65. That one pitch turned an ordinary round into one that gave him a shot at four in a row.

So if you want to make consistently good scores, improve your putting statistics, and hit those wedges a little closer to the target. Steve Stricker is a really good model to copy, and there are a few things that he does with a wedge in his hand that you can incorporate in your technique to aid in getting those wedge shots closer to the hole:

Quiet hands and wrists: One thing that Stricker does that lends itself to accuracy and good distance control is use a minimal amount of wrist hinge and hand action. Emulate this as you swing to hit your scoring clubs more consistently. As you swing the wedges, hinge your wrists less and make a three-quarter backswing. This reduction in wrist hinge will help to quiet the hands through the impact area and this should assist in squaring the clubface and controlling its speed – a sure-fire way to hitting wedge shots that are accurate, both in terms of distance and direction.

Quiet feet and legs: Good balance and good timing are crucial to delivering the clubface squarely and consistently into the back of the ball. To improve both of these components you must ensure that your swing has a sound foundation and a stable lower body action will go a long way to producing that. Watch Steve Stricker hit a wedge and you will see how he uses his lower body in a very sedate and controlled fashion. Emulate this as you swing and you will find it a lot easier to make consistent strikes with your short clubs.

Don’t overpower your scoring clubs: The worst thing you can do is try to hit your scoring clubs too far. By definition, the short irons are meant to move the ball a short distance, so be true to that whenever you have one in your hand. There is no benefit whatsoever to hitting a sand-wedge instead of a wedge to a target so resist every urge to do so. Swing the scoring clubs with control and poise, ala Stricker, and you will find you will put the ball closer to the target a lot more often.

Good luck.
/mi

Mark Immelman, the brother of PGA TOUR professional Trevor Immelman, is a well-respected golf instructor and head coach of the Columbus State University (Ga.) golf team. For more information about Mark and his instruction, visit his web site, markimmelman.com or follow him on Twitter @mark_immelman or “Like” Mark Immelman Golf Instruction on Facebook. He also has a golf instruction e-book called “Consistently Straight Shots – The Simple Solution” available on iTunes/iBooks.

The final round of the John Deere Classic will begin Sunday much like Saturday’s third round. Troy Matteson’s name is atop the leaderboard and Steve Stricker, in pursuit of a four-peat, is three shots back. There are two key differences, however. One, the pressure is greater on a PGA TOUR Sunday. And two, Matteson will be paired with the three-time champion on Sunday. Six players were between Matteson and Stricker on the leaderboard after 36 holes but the congestion cleared up on Saturday as the aforementioned two were the only players in the final four pairings to shoot better than 2 under. Matteson started quickly, with two birdies in his first three holes, and added five more before the end of his round that resulted in a 5-under 66. Stricker birdied the first hole but couldn’t get much else going before making four consecutive birdies late in his round of 66. Both players bogeyed the 18th. Entering Sunday four shots back and playing in the penultimate grouping will be Zach Johnson and Brian Harman. Johnson, an eight-time PGA TOUR winner grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, less than 100 miles from the course. Harman, a rookie ranked No. 97 in the FedExCup standings, is in search of his first victory -- and first top-10 finish -- on TOUR. In what promises to be an interesting Sunday at TPC Deere Run, 22 other golfers will enter Sunday’s final round at 10 under or better.

Troy Matteson is 18 under and playing the 17th with a three-shot lead at the John Deere Classic, but Saturday's stories are the guys gathering behind him on the leaderboard. Three-time John Deere Classic champion Steve Stricker birdied four consecutive holes before a closing bogey dropped him back to 15 under. He's alone in second place at the moment. Iowa native Zach Johnson is in the clubhouse at 14 under following his third-round 66 that featured seven birdies. Also moving inside the top 5 today was 2006 John Deere Classic champion John Senden, who has quietly moved into the picture at 13 under. Senden hasn't had a bogey since his final hole in Round 1 but after playing his first eight holes in 4 under Saturday, he made 10 consecutive pars to close his round. Those three players may be the talk of the TOUR on Saturday night. Should Matteson go on to win Sunday, however, he will finally be able to steal the headlines for himself.

Stories of fading hopes for the "Stricker Slam" may have been a bit premature. Steve Stricker, searching for his fourth consecutive John Deere Classic victory, has four birdies on his back nine, three in a row from Nos. 14-16, to move to 15 under, just two shots behind leader Troy Matteson. He heads to the 569-yard par-5 17th tied for second place with Brian Harman. Stricker has birdied the 17th in each of the first two rounds. UPDATE: Stricker picked up a fourth consecutive birdie on No. 17 to move within one of the lead.

Steve Stricker is 1 under through his first nine holes Saturday at the John Deere Classic. In pursuit of a rare four-peat at this event, Stricker has gone from three back to five behind leader Troy Matteson, who is 3 under through 7. Stricker’s current 11 under count leaves him tied for 11th on a leaderboard featuring 22 players at 10 under or better. There is good news for Stricker as he heads to the back nine. It’s been his stronger side this week. Through 2.5 rounds, Stricker is 3 under on the front nine and 8 under on the back nine.