Zach Johnson now knows half of his Ryder Cup team for next month’s clash at Marco Simone in Rome.
Scheffler, Cantlay, Clark, Harman, Homa and Schauffele have all automatically qualified. He now faces an extremely difficult task of picking his next six, which he’ll be naming next week.
I’m going to take the tough task of narrowing the 13 names in contention for a wildcard pick down to six to make a 12-man squad for Team USA and even pose the question of could Johnson go for a LIV-less team?
Contenders for those six wildcards are:
- Jordan Spieth
- Brooks Koepka
- Rickie Fowler
- Collin Morikawa
- Cameron Young
- Keegan Bradley
- Lucas Glover
- Justin Thomas
- Sam Burns
- Tony Finau
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Dustin Johnson
- Denny McCarthy
That’s 13 names, for six spots.
Let’s start with the main three LIV players in contention – Koepka, DeChambeau and Johnson – and what the US captain may be thinking ahead of making his picks next week.
Brooks Koepka
Overlooking Brooks Koepka would be a very bold pick from the captain
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Could Johnson go down the route of a LIV-less team and potentially snub Koepka, DeChambeau and DJ? It’s certainly a possibility despite how popular Koepka is among his peers.
Zach Johnson has not made himself out to be the biggest supporter of the LIV Golf League, and it was recently revealed that he hadn’t even spoken to Bryson DeChambeau since May’s PGA Championship – not even after he shot that spectacular 58 at The Greenbrier.
Might Koepka falling out of the automatic spots seal his fate?
Koepka is number seven in the standings so it would be a very bold call to overlook him, but his best finish in the LIV Golf League since his PGA Championship win in May was a 3rd-place at Valderrama in July. His last two results have been 41st and 38th in the 48-men fields, and he could only post a T64th at The Open last month.
Perhaps him losing a bit of form and dropping out of the automatic positions could see him replaced by a PGA Tour regular? We’ll see, but it’s a possibility as the names in contention are seriously strong – Spieth, Morikawa and Thomas all require picks, for example.
Bryson DeChambeau
Aside from his 58 and Greenbrier win, Bryson’s season won’t have made…
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