Brooks Koepka's Ryder Cup Hopes Are Now in Zach Johnson's Hands
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. — Brooks Koepka presumably was nowhere near Chicago on Sunday. He’s a new dad, so there’s a good chance he was sleeping. And even if he wasn’t, it is hard to imagine he was too worked up over the final U.S. Ryder Cup standings.
But after being among the top six automatic qualifiers for a majority of this year, Koepka was bumped out on Sunday. He’s now seventh and will need a pick from U.S. captain Zach Johnson on Aug. 29.
How this goes will be fascinating.
Because it’s not necessarily a lock that Koepka is chosen, even though he’s done a considerable amount this year to warrant being part of the U.S. team that will face Europe next month in Italy.
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The five-time major champion won the PGA Championship in May. He was the 54-hole leader at the Masters before tying for second behind winner Jon Rahm. The week prior, he won a LIV Golf League event in Orlando.
He’s got experience playing a Ryder Cup in Europe—where the U.S. has not won in 30 years—and has a 7-6-1 overall record in the competition. Koepka is known as a guy who shows up for the big events and having that kind of moxie at a Ryder Cup would almost certainly mean he’s going to be part of this.
Koepka also finished seventh in the points playing in just 10 qualifying events and only four this year. Xander Schauffele, who finished sixth (Max Homa also passed Koepka) played in 26 qualifying events.
But his LIV Golf association complicates matters. It doesn’t mean Johnson won’t choose him. Perhaps it’s already a done deal. But Johnson didn’t exactly embrace the idea of choosing anyone from LIV, his comments about scouting and evaluating LIV players coming off as dismissive.
“I’m going be fully transparent," Johnson said last week during a SiriusXM interview. “It’s hard because I’m not able to witness what they’ve doing and see their form, with the exception of four events a year. What Brooks has done this year, well, no one’s surprised. I’m just glad he’s healthy."
Trying to decipher Johnson’s comments, they seem more a knock on other LIV players than Koepka. Bryson DeChambeau, Talor Gooch and Dustin Johnson might have been other LIV possibilities, but their chances of getting a pick seem remote.
Johnson and Koepka played a practice round together at Royal Liverpool in advance of the British Open, but was that by chance or with a bigger motive?
Why is this even an issue? You can certainly make a strong case for Koepka based on what he’s accomplished this year. But how much of the LIV angst might hurt him?
It seems most of the players who will be on the U.S. Ryder Cup team have no issue with Koepka. They want to win, and those who have been asked generally have not let the LIV division cloud their thinking.
He’s also the PGA Championship winner and the PGA of America has celebrated his victory. The Ryder Cup is the PGA of America’s event. Is the organization going to stand in the way?
What about the PGA Tour? Johnson has been loyal to the organization for which he’s played the better part of two decades. Does he get any pressure there? Does he feel compelled to say no do to some lingering resentment over LIV Golf?
You can spin the arguments any way you want.
The top six automatically make the team and if you don’t make it, everything is left up to chance. Nobody is deserving. It’s about fitting the right parts and Johnson should base his decision on that.
But if he wants to look for reasons not to pick Koepka, he can point to the lackluster performances at the U.S. Open and Open and only one solid tournament as part of LIV Golf—a third-place finish in Spain—since the PGA. You can argue that the PGA was a long time ago.
Of course, you can nitpick every player who is going to be in the running for a selection. Johnson will be looking at Jordan Spieth, Cam Young, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler, Lucas Glover, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, Tony Finau and Justin Thomas.
There’s plenty of options to consider there and Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee, who has been a harsh critic of LIV Golf, said last week that Koepka should not get a pick, saying he “is bad for the (Ryder Cup) team" during a Golf Channel pre-game show on Thursday.
“Koepka being at the Ryder Cup, regardless of what he does, will not be about whether it will be great for the United States or the Ryder Cup," Chamblee said. “In making this team more cohesive, being on point, and pointing in the right direction, Brooks Koepka missing this team would be good for this team."
He’s now missed qualifying for the team.
What does Johnson do?
The “framework agreement" was supposed to bring the PGA Tour and LIV sides together. This is a pretty good test.