Rochester, New York | As federal court rulings continue and the Department of Justice moves forward with its investigation into the PGA Tour business model, perhaps the most pressing question is outside who might win that PGA Championship in Oak Hill over the Ryder Cup four months from now.
Specifically, can the US team include any LIV Golf members?
More specifically, will USA captain Zack Johnson pick Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka to round out his roster in Rome?
Depending on how you choose to read tea leaves or ryegrass, the answer is still blowing in the winds of spring.
If a decision is made, Zack Johnson isn’t saying.
“It’s not even a discussion item,” Johnson replied earlier this week. “He’s not on my radar right now.”
However, Johnson had already received approval to take his 12-man squad to Rome in September, two weeks before the Ryder Cup, to make sure everyone was fully aware of the Marco Simone Golf Club, so it’s fair to assume that some of the players were. Request to keep this week open. (The PGA Tour will not compete in the two weeks following the Tour Championship, which ends Aug. 27. LIV Golf is scheduled to play at Rich Harvest Farms near Chicago Sept. 22-24, the weekend before the Ryder Cup.)
LIV players — notably Johnson, Koepka, Bryson Dechambeau, Patrick Reed, and two-time LIV winner Tallor Gooch — are eligible to play in the Ryder Cup because they have been granted US PGA membership through 2024, a condition of being in America. a team.
Then it gets hard.
Six players will automatically qualify for the American team on points, but since LIV events do not qualify for Ryder Cup points, apparently the only chance for its members to confirm their place in Rome is to dominate the major tournaments.
If, say, Koepka is among the automatic qualifiers when the deadline arrives in August, will the PGA of America tell him he can’t play because of where he’s competing? That seems unlikely.
“If I handle my business here, everything will take care of itself,” said Kupka. “If you win, move to second, first, first, first, it would be kind of hard not to choose, wouldn’t it?
“If I handle the work, I feel like I should be fine. But it’s not up to me. It’s up to Zach and what happens. I just play my best and see what happens from there, but I like to play for him.”
Here’s another wrinkle:
At the moment, it seems fairly easy to name the 10 players who will represent the United States in Rome, whether in the automatic qualifiers or the captain’s selection.
“I love being a part of it.” – Dustin Johnson
They are Scotty Scheffler, Max Homma, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Jordan Spieth, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Colin Morikawa and Tony Finau.
This leaves two points.
If you were Johnson, would you choose Johnson and Koepka (who have won six major championships between them) or two others from a list that includes Windham Clark, Kurt Kitayama, Chris Kirk, Harris English, Seth Thigala, Keegan Bradley and Ricky Hunter?
What about the effect of Tiger Woods? He has been outspoken about the impact of LIV Golf on the game, and his opinion carries weight in the Ryder Cup process.
In case you were wondering, Johnson and Koepka would love to be included and would be welcomed into the squad room.
“I love being a part of it,” said Johnson, who went 5-0 in the American Race at Whistling Straits in 2021.
Koepka spoke briefly with Zach Johnson when they crossed paths before the start of the PGA Championship, but it was clearly no effort to pressure either side.
“It’s hard to be in Zac’s mind or where he is, but I like to make it difficult for him. I think he’ll be great. The only thing I can do is play well. If you play well everything takes care of itself,” Koepka said. .
“In terms of what Zach does and his options, I think that’s kind of his call. Whether the LIV players play on his team, again, I haven’t spoken to him as much about that as an agreement for the captains.” – Luke Donald
When asked specifically about Koepka and his chances after his runner-up finish at the Masters, Zac Johnson played the diplomat.
“I haven’t really seen where he is since Augusta. He played really well that week, but it’s one week. I don’t want to sit here and say it’s concrete, it’s the only thing we’ll look at,” Johnson said.
“It’s one week, in a prime, at the Masters. He played great. But there’s a lot of golf. There’s still a lot of golf now and then.”
With all the work that goes into the Ryder Cup—from analytics teams to wardrobe considerations to dropping pairs—the LIV option is part of the process.
It’s a different story for European captain Luke Donald, who lost the option to pick Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter or Henrik Stenson when they quit DP World tour membership. However, Donald could add Thomas Peters or Bernd Weisberger if he was so inclined.
The captains had not reached an agreement on whether or not to include the members of LIV in their teams.
“In terms of what Zack does and his choices, I think that’s kind of his call,” Donald said. “Whether LIV players play on his team, again, I haven’t spoken to him so much about it as an agreement of the captains.”
It’s not time to make a decision – yet.
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