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There are still a number of questions surrounding the 2020 Ryder Cup, but one of the more important ones has now been answered. With the golf world going on pause for a long stretch of time, it was unclear whether or not the qualifying process to make the 12-man roster would remain the same and on Wednesday morning we found out that Team USA would be tweaking the selection process.
The PGA of America announced that U.S. captain Steve Stricker will make six captain’s picks as opposed to just four. With a total of 11 PGA Tour events canceled, three majors pushed back on the schedule and The Open canceled, Stricker and his assistant captain’s will have the ability to make a much larger influence on the U.S. roster.
The U.S. points system will now run through the BMW Championship (Aug. 30) as the top six in the standings automatically making the roster. Stricker and his assistant captains will then make the final six selections no later than Sept. 3.
The top six players in the U.S. points standings at the moment are Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Gary Woodland, Xander Schauffele and Webb Simpson.
That Sept. 3 date is an important one, however. Not only is it the day before the opening round of the Tour Championship, but it’s also a couple of weeks prior to the U.S. Open meaning an American could go on to win the major and be left off the U.S. team for the following week’s Ryder Cup.
Steve Stricker will complete American Ryder Cup team by Sept. 3 with six captain’s picks. Meaning, someone could win the US Open and not be invited the following week to Whistling Straits.
In short bet the house on Billy Horschel at Winged Foot.
— Joel Beall (@JoelMBeall) June 10, 2020
Players will continue to accrue one point per $1,000 earned and the winner of the PGA Championship will earn two points per $1,000 earned and those who make the cut will receive 1.5 points per $1,000 earned.
While the criteria is set, it’s still not entirely clear on how the Ryder Cup will look this year. Many players, including Rory McIlroy and Brooks Koepka, have said they are entirely against playing the event if fans aren’t allowed to attend and that they would much rather see it pushed back into 2021.
With the PGA of America making this announcement, however, it has to be taken as a good sign that the event will go on as scheduled; at least that’s the plan at the moment.
The Ryder Cup is scheduled to take place Sept. 25-27 at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
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Mark is an associate editor at BroBible. Follow him on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris for the occasional good tweet. Feel free to contact him at Mark@BroBible.com.