Does Sutton Believe in Miracles?

Want to make the Ryder Cup team as a captain’s pick with a good showing at the PGA Championship? You’re probably too late, according to Hal Sutton, who said Friday that he had his mind all but made up two weeks ago.

“That’s when I wish we had made [the announcement], two weeks ago,” Sutton said. “Barring some miracle coming in here, I probably feel the same way as I did then.”

For players who are not in the top 10 in points, such as Jerry Kelly, John Daly, Justin Leonard, Todd Hamilton, Scott Verplank and Stewart Cink, it might mean that their fates have already been decided, barring some great finish at Whistling Straits.

“That’s what everybody’s hoping this week, that last-minute miracle, catching lightning in a bottle,” Sutton said. “I don’t know if we can count on catching lightning in a bottle.”

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Why here, why now?

That’s what Kelly is asking after the Wisconsin native and local favorite missed the 36-hole cut on his home turf.

Kelly shot five-over 77 on Friday, one stroke worse than his 76 on Thursday.

He was one of the dark-horse favorites entering the tournament, the player who had the most knowledge about Whistling Straits.

“It’s my first cut missed in a year,” Kelly said. “It’s the one that I probably didn’t want to miss the most.”

After his round, Kelly thanked the fans that stuck with him through thin and thin.

“There was a good solid group of them that walked with me, even when I was eight over,” said Kelly, who was born in Madison. “I love playing in front of these people; they’ve been so good to me.”

Kelly entered the week ranked 11th in the Ryder Cup standings; only the top 10 points finishers earn an automatic berth on the team.

Kelly’s only hope now is being selected as one of two at-large selections.

“You know, I don’t think I’m going to be nervous anymore, Hal knows what I can do,” Kelly said. “He knows that if you put me head-to-head against somebody, I’m going to give 1,000%, forget 100%, I’m going to give everything I have and more.”

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Sutton said one of his most difficult tasks was to somehow influence the U.S. Ryder Cup team to play up to its potential, something that has not often happened recently.

“We come in as the favorites, and we play less than we’re expected to.”

However, he said he wouldn’t try reverse psychology and portray the U.S. team as the underdog.

“That would be lying,” he said. “We won’t be the underdog. We’ll be the favorite who hasn’t performed, the one that’s lost six of the last nine.”

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From 47-year-old Nick Faldo, asked whether he felt more like 25 when he reached five under par Friday: “No, not 25, I felt 47 ... well, 45 maybe. I was just hanging on.”

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Mark Calcavecchia was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard. Calcavecchia recorded a 3 on the seventh hole, but his actual score was a 4. He would have missed the cut anyway.