29 August 2023 , 20:14
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American Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson appears to have had a change of heart when it came to picking his team for next month's clash with Team Europe.
Johnson confirmed his six captain's picks on Monday following the end of the PGA Tour season at the Tour Championship last weekend. The two-time major winner named Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Justin Thomas and Sam Burns as his selections.
The six skipper picks will join the already qualified Scottie Scheffler, Brian Harman, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Max Homa on the plane to Italy next month. One man who will not be representing the Americans at Marco Simone, however, is Cameron Young, which came as a shock to many.
Speaking on his own SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show, vice-captain Fred Couples leaked three names who would be in the 12-man squad a month early. Two of those were Spieth and Homa, who of course will be competing in Rome over the three days, but the third was the left-out Young.
Speaking in July, Couples confirmed Homa's spot, commenting: "I’ll say Max Homa’s going to be in Italy. I’ll say Max Homa’s going to be in Italy, without getting anyone in trouble.” Of course the rookie since became a dead cert by securing his spot via an automatic spot, whilst Spieth was unsurprisingly confirmed as a captain's pick on Monday. Quizzed on Young's chances at the time, Couples responded: "Cam Young will be in Italy."
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(Getty Images)Sadly for Young though this proved to not be the case as he was snubbed from Johnson's six picks. Whether Young was initially in the concrete plans of the skipper remains to be seen, but there is no doubt his omission from the team will have been all the more hard to take following Couples' comments.
One man was given the green light by the skipper was Koepka, who is only the LIV Golf representative included in the American team. The five-time major winner looked set to secure an automatic spot following his PGA Championship win in May, but slipped out of the top six following the last week of qualifying.