23 August 2023 , 16:57
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World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler has discussed the chances of Brooks Koepka making the United States Ryder Cup team ahead of next month's event in Rome.
Scheffler himself has locked in one of the six automatic spots on Zach Johnson's team for the trip to Italy, alongside Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele. The one man who just missed out on an auto spot was LIV Golf star Koepka.
The American has been starved of earning Ryder Cup qualifying points having had his PGA Tour membership suspended following his Saudi switch last summer.
Koepka's only chance to climb the rankings came at the four major championships, and he more than made up for last time. Following a tied-second finish at the Masters, the Smash GC captain then secured the fifth major of his career with victory at the PGA Championship.
His win at Oak Hill catapulted him up the rankings but after three months inside the top six, he finally lost his spot following last week's BMW Championship. Koepka is now relying on a captain's pick to make the final 12, with the decision lying in the hands of Johnson.
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The five-time major champion missed out on a qualifying spot by just 29 points, the equivalent to £29,000 ($23,000), loose change when it comes to the earnings of a top PGA Tour star over the course of a season. And this near-miss was as good an indication as any to earn Koepka captain's pick according to Scheffler.
Brooks Koepka will be relying on a pick from Zach JohnsonDiscussing the LIV star's chances at this week's Tour Championship, the world No. 1 said: "Brooks? I mean, I looked at the points list the other night. He was about... 30 points shy? Which is, I think it was the equivalent of like $30,000 throughout the year.
"So... 29 [points], Yeah. So if he played one tournament on Tour I think he probably would have been on the team." Despite Koepka's major triumph it could well be his lack of PGA Tour golf that costs him a spot on the 12-man team, with skipper Johnson admitting he is unable to keep an eye on those competing on the LIV circuit.
Speaking to GOLF.com's 'Subpar' podcast, he said: "There hasn’t been much communication. I’m gonna be fully transparent. It’s hard because I’m not able to witness what they’re 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.”