LIV Golf's Brooks Koepka Appears to Be Closing in on U.S. Ryder Cup Team Spot

The PGA champion, third in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, played a British Open practice round Monday with U.S. captain Zach Johnson.

HOYLAKE, England — Brooks Koepka is third in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings with five events remaining before the six automatic selections are set, after the BMW Championship in Chicago.

With the British Open the only remaining event where Koepka can earn points toward making the Ryder Cup team, since he no longer plays on the PGA Tour, what the five-time major winner does this week at Royal Liverpool could go a long way in cementing his position on U.S. captain Zach Johnson’s team, either as an automatic selection or a captain’s pick.

But maybe a spot on the team is already a forgone conclusion, as player and captain had a fortuitous meeting on the 1st tee Monday.

Both were looking for a game, hooked up with defending champion Cam Smith and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, and off they went.

Brooks Koepka (left) and Zach Johnson played a practice round Monday at Royal Liverpool :: Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports

“We got to talk about it a little bit, just what's going on, I guess how the team is shaping up.,” Koepka said. “It's kind of interesting.”

When Koepka added a third PGA Championship victory to his impressive resume in May, he moved from 22nd on the U.S. points list to second, just behind Scheffler.

Now sitting in third he's still in a comfortable spot, but if he falls out of the top six over the next five weeks, it seems Koepka could be a pick.

“The PGA of America does a really good job in easing it for (Johnson), and just kind of talking about the preparation for it, what our team is going to do, where are we going to be, and just a little bit more about the shuffle of guys and the stuff they have kind of behind the scenes—stats, stuff like that. It's quite interesting just hearing about it all,” Koepka said. “I guess when you look at the standings, where guys are, versus I guess some events don't count at the end of last year and—I think everybody knows. But if you just equate all that as equal, where everybody would stand.”

The two also discussed the current standings and where guys are on the list.

The tenor of Koepka’s answer and what he said seemingly screams that he is on the team.

It also seems clear that Johnson is resigned to having a LIV player on his team, when in the past it had been equally clear he would have a difficulty with such a selection.

“I don't know. I can't answer that. I'll say this: the guys that are on the PGA Tour that make that team, they have direct ownership in that collectively,” Johnson said after his final round Sunday at the PGA Championship. “So, would I feel comfortable or uncomfortable with it would be, I would think, irresponsible on my behalf because it's not my team. “

For Koepka’s part he has made it relatively easy to let Johnson ignore all the noise generated by LIV and the PGA Tour and let his play do the talking with a runner-up at the Masters, the PGA win and a T17 at the U.S. Open.

Koepka would be on his fourth team and coming off a 2-2-0 record at Whistling Straits, with a winning career record of 6-5-1.

But more importantly, players generally like Koepka and his presence would only help the team dynamic for a U.S. team that hasn’t won on foreign soil since 1993.

“I feel like I'm playing just as good,” Koepka said of how his game equates to the week of the PGA. “Still feel pretty disciplined, focused. Game is there. I've been practicing quite a bit. We'll see how the week goes, it's a major, so probably should be up for it.”