Sizing up what potential U.S. Ryder Cup captain’s picks must do Sunday at East Lake

One round remains at East Lake, which means that Sunday’s final round of the Tour Championship is the last chance for prospective U.S. Ryder Cup captain’s picks to impress captain Keegan Bradley and his inner circle.

Bradley will announce his six picks at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday on Golf Channel, and he’s likely already made up his mind on a few of them, including certain locks Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay, the latter of whom might just win the FedExCup on Sunday evening.

And the decision whether or not to pick himself got tougher for Bradley after a 7-under 63 on Saturday.

“It’s difficult because I want to put the team in the best position to win the Ryder Cup,” Bradley reiterated after what he called maybe his best round of the year. “So there’s sort of an unknown of – Arnold Palmer did it in 1963, but it’s a totally different tournament now. It’s just a heavy decision. All the picks are tough. Captain is going to be judged on who they pick. Pretty strange thing to pick yourself….

“But we’re going to do the best we can to make the right decision, and it’s going to be controversial to certain people either way. I’m prepared for that.”

As for the rest of the potential picks, there’s probably a decent amount still to be decided over the final 18 holes at East Lake.

Here is a closer look at the players likely still being considered:

Justin Thomas

Ryder Cup points finish: 7th
OWGR: 5th
Data Golf rank: 17^th
Last three finishes: T-33 (BMW), T-28 (FedEx St. Jude), T-34 (Open)
Tour Championship position through 54 holes: T-10 (8 under)
He’ll be picked if…: He doesn’t retire before Wednesday. Thomas is a lock for a fourth Ryder Cup.

Collin Morikawa

Ryder Cup points finish: 8th
OWGR: 7th
Data Golf rank: 27^th
Last three finishes: T-33 (BMW), T-22 (FedEx St. Jude), MC (Open)
Tour Championship position through 54 holes: T-16 (6 under)
He’ll be picked if…: The same as Thomas. For as much as he’s struggled of late, it’s hard to envision Morikawa, as the world’s sixth-ranked American, being left off the team.

Patrick Cantlay

Ryder Cup points finish: 15th
OWGR: 23rd
Data Golf rank: 22^nd
Last three finishes: T-30 (BMW), T-9 (FedEx St. Jude), MC (Open)
Tour Championship position through 54 holes: T-1 (16 under)
He’ll be picked if…: He gets through Sunday without posting something in the 80s. Cantlay is probably a lock, but he may just win the FedExCup before hearing his name called by Bradley.

Ben Griffin

Ryder Cup points finish: 9th
OWGR: 17th
Data Golf rank: 7^th
Last three finishes: T-12 (BMW), T-9 (FedEx St. Jude), T-11 (Wyndham)
Tour Championship position through 54 holes: T-7 (9 under)
He’ll be picked if…: The same as Cantlay. Though not part of the Boys Club^TM, Griffin has been too good for too long this year to not be picked. Wrapping up his season with a fourth straight top-12 will just be icing on the cake.

Keegan Bradley

Ryder Cup points finish: 11th
OWGR: 13th
Data Golf rank: 24^th
Last three finishes: T-17 (BMW), T-44 (FedEx St. Jude), MC (Wyndham)
Tour Championship position through 54 holes: 4th (13 under)
He’ll be picked if…: He remains inside the top five – and ahead of Burns or Young – at East Lake and feels comfortable picking himself. But if Burns and Young both have great Sundays, there’s a chance Bradley is OK with just being the captain.

Cameron Young

Ryder Cup points finish: 14th
OWGR: 20th
Data Golf rank: 23^rd
Last three finishes: 11th (BMW), 5th (FedEx St. Jude), WIN (Wyndham)
Tour Championship position through 54 holes: 6th (10 under)
He’ll be picked if…: He beats Sam Burns at East Lake. Young has the better record recently, though Burns was better earlier in the year and in the majors.

Sam Burns

Ryder Cup points finish: 16th
OWGR: 22nd
Data Golf rank: 15^th
Last three finishes: T-4 (BMW), T-28 (FedEx St. Jude), T-61 (Wyndham)
Tour Championship position through 54 holes: T-7 (9 under)
He’ll be picked if…: He beats Young. Of course, he and Young will both make it if Bradley doesn’t want to give himself a playing nod and Maverick McNealy doesn’t go off.

Maverick McNealy

Ryder Cup points finish: 10th
OWGR: 19th
Data Golf rank: 20^th
Last three finishes: 3rd (BMW), T-28 (FedEx St. Jude), MC (3M)
Tour Championship position through 54 holes: T-16 (6 under)
He’ll be picked if…: He plays well enough on Sunday to pass both Young and Burns – with one of those two completely self-destructing down the stretch. That’s probably the only way unless Bradley doesn’t pick himself.

Chris Gotterup

Ryder Cup points finish: 20th
OWGR: 27th
Data Golf rank: 32^nd
Last three finishes: T-33 (BMW), T-54 (FedEx St. Jude), T-10 (3M)
Tour Championship position through 54 holes: T-10 (8 under)
He’ll be picked if…: He does the unthinkable and wins the Tour Championship and FedExCup, making up an eight-shot deficit on Sunday.