Will Scottie Scheffler's comments help Brooks Koepka make Ryder Cup team?
Ultimately, Brooks Koepka's fate as far as the U.S. Ryder Cup team goes is firmly in captain Zach Johnson's hands. But the LIV Golfer and PGA Championship winner did get an acknowledgment from a very important member of the team: Scottie Scheffler.
The world No. 1 was asked on Wednesday about Koepka, who slipped out of a spot to automatically qualify for the team just this past weekend. Scheffler told reporters that being able to play in at least one PGA Tour event this year would have helped him in the standings.
"I looked at the points list the other night," Scheffler said, via Sports Illustrated. "I think he was 30 points shy? Which is, I think it was the equivalent of, like, $30,000 throughout the year. If he played one tournament on Tour I think he probably would have been on the team."
He isn't wrong. LIV Golf players can only earn Ryder Cup points in the four major events of the year, compared to PGA Tour players who have more opportunities including the first two legs of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Koepka had to rely on his PGA Championship victory and top-tier play at other major events to keep him in a top-six auto-qualify position. But after the FedEx St. Jude and BMW Championships, he finds himself in seventh place.
If the comments from Scheffler don't sway Johnson, maybe Koepka's history at the Ryder Cup will. He has an overall record of 6-5-1 over the three Ryder Cup teams he has played for, contributing to wins in 2016 and 2021.
Johnson won't announce his six captain's picks until after the Tour Championship wraps up, and Koepka isn't the only player he has to consider for the team. We'll just have to wait and see if Scheffler's comments help move that decision along.
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