Sunday is an important day in the golf world, not only because we’ll learn (weather permitting) the identity of the 2014 PGA Championship winner but also because the nine guaranteed spots on the U.S. Ryder Cup team will be determined.
According to a source close to Phil Mickelson, Lefty needs to do no more than tee it up to earn one of the guaranteed spots. That’s the good news. But there’s plenty of bad.
Dustin Johnson, who had locked up a spot, won’t play now because of the leave of absence/suspension that resulted in his departure from the PGA Tour for the rest of the year. Johnson’s off-course behavior certainly is to be questioned, but the fact remains he’s one of the top U.S. players and his talents will be missed.
Worse yet, Matt Kuchar and Jason Dufner, both of whom were among the top nine on the points list, withdrew this week due to injuries, a back for Kuchar and a neck for Dufner. Kuchar hasn’t divulged the depth of his problem, but Dufner has said that his issues could force him to miss both the upcoming FedEx Cup playoffs and the Ryder Cup.
Yet another setback came when Keegan Bradley missed the cut on Friday. That means Bradley, who is in 11th place in the U.S. standings, won’t qualify automatically and will need to be one of captain Tom Watson’s three picks to make it. As much success as Bradley had paired with Mickelson in last year’s President’s Cup _ the pair went 2-0-1 in doubles play _ that would seem to be a no-brainer for Watson, and it will become more so if Mickelson, as expected, lobbies for it.
Here are the nine players and their point totals heading into Sunday:
1. Bubba Watson 6,892.638
2. Jim Furyk 5,972.694
3. Jimmy Walker 5,585.405
4. Rickie Fowler 5573.253
5. Matt Kuchar 5,114.665
7. Jordan Spieth 4,835.827
8. Patrick Reed 3,609.393
9. Zach Johnson 3,532.894
Zach Johnson technically is behind Dufner going into Sunday, but by making the cut he’s certain to pass him, so we put him ninth.
Directly behind Johnson are Mickelson, who again is assured of making his 10th U.S. Ryder Cup team, which is not only a record, but Mickelson is about to become the only player in history to make 10 teams on his own merit. Nick Faldo has played in 11 but was a captain’s pick seven times, while Bernhard Langer made 10 but was a captain’s pick once.
The list of players behind Bradley does not inspire a lot of confidence when the U.S. travels to Scotland for what would be only its second Ryder Cup win in its last seven tries. Brendon Todd, Ryan Moore, Chris Kirk and Webb Simpson are all fine players, but for any of those four to be considered among the cream of the U.S. crop shows the level has dropped.
Further down the list are Harris English, Matt Every and Eric Compton, all of whom have demonstrated they can have great days, but seem to have a lot more not-so-great ones.
Perhaps Watson should select Steve Stricker, who he appointed a vice captain this week. Stricker is more consistent and has a lot more game than at least a few of the players mentioned earlier.
