NORTON, Mass. -- Every year at this point of the season, PGA Tour pros try to put their best foot forward to impress the captain, be it the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup variety.
This week, though, at the Deutsche Bank Championship, no golfer overwhelmingly stepped up to say, "Pick me. Take me to the dance."
Charley Hoffman moved up from 16th to 13th in the Presidents Cup standings (the top 10 automatically qualified as of Monday evening) with his third-place finish, but it was likely too little, too late. Only two players -- Hoffman and Hunter Mahan, who finished 29th in the points -- posted top-10 finishes at TPC Boston and neither seriously challenged for the victory. Just last year at this event, Chris Kirk played his way into the Ryder Cup conversation by winning the second leg of the PGA Tour playoffs. He didn't make Tom Watson's squad, but the debate around being left off, especially after another U.S. defeat, lingered. So where should U.S. Presidents Cup captain Jay Haas turn when he makes his two selections Tuesday night for the Oct. 8-11 matches to be played in South Korea?
He has the unenviable task of muddling through a list of players from Nos. 11 in the point standings (where his son, Bill, resides) all the way down to No. 30, where five-time major champion Phil Mickelson could add a wealth of experience to the American team.
For the 33-year-old Bill Haas, who finished T-60 at TPC Boston, he understands the delicate nature of the conversation.
"If it's viewed as a penalty to be his son, then that's unfair," said Haas, who also added that he didn't think he was being penalized for being the captain's offspring. "Would I be thought of as a good choice if he wasn't my dad? And if you say yes, then I don't think he should think differently because I'm his son. It would be amazing to be on the team where my dad is the captain. But I would say it would be amazing to be in the [room] if I was on the team with Fred Couples. Just to be part of that team would be unbelievable, to have [my dad] be the captain. It's just cherry on top and something that we would always share. But if it doesn't happen, I totally get it."
If Jay Haas picks son Bill, calls of nepotism will surely be made, no matter how off-base they are. Bill Haas, who played the past six straight weeks in an effort to take the pressure off his dad, is No. 11 in the standings where the top 10 make the squad automatically. No matter who was just outside that cut line, they would be considered a possibility to make the team. It just so happens that No. 11 shares DNA with the man making the call.
As for Jay Haas' second pick, no one will be stunned if he passes over Mickelson since he's so far down the list. If Lefty doesn't make the team, it would be the first time he missed a Presidents Cup or a Ryder Cup since 1994. Even if he does get the call, it would mark the first occasion Mickelson has ever needed a pick to play for Team USA.
Would it be unfathomable to think they could go all the way down to the 45-year-old Mickelson?
"It's not crazy to think any veteran who has played a lot of Cups [would be considered]," said assistant U.S. Presidents Cup captain Davis Love III, who finished T-40 this week at the Deutsche Bank Championship. "Phil's an intimidating player, a match-play player. He loves to play one-on-one. He's definitely on the list."
The debate around selecting Lefty would be considered a stretch by many, but experience can be a great thing in these matches when a player will know how to react to those first-tee jitters. Or how to handle all the pomp and circumstance around the event while still trying to prepare for the golf.
And consider this: Of players 11-29 in the standings, they have a combined 10 Presidents Cup appearances, the same as Mickelson all by himself.
Were this a Ryder Cup year, where the Americans have lost six of the past seven meetings, a call for fresh blood would clearly be understandable.
Instead, at the Presidents Cup, where the U.S. owns a dominating 8-1-1 mark, why wouldn't you want to bring along the guy who owns the record for most matches played (47) and has a 20-16-11 career mark?
"Jay's going to have to talk to him," said Love, who knows what a tough decision Hass will have. "Phil's the one guy that he'll have to ask."
And don't forget, history is in play here. Does Jay Haas want to be remembered as the first captain to leave Mickelson off a U.S. team?
When it comes to his son, though, Jay Haas knows one thing won't change. No matter who he picks Tuesday night, both generations of the Haas family will be vacationing together shortly thereafter.