Ryder Cup captains make their choices based on a variety of factors. However, no previous Team USA leader has ever checked if potential selections would force other team members to pay legal fees by taking part in speculative litigation funded by a Middle Eastern despot. Zach Johnson agreed to take on this role as he tries to end America’s 30 year losing streak in September.
Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka are the only LIV golfers likely to be considered in the discussions regarding captains’ picks. Neither of them was a plaintiff in LIV’s antitrust suit against the PGA Tour, nor did they engage in salty back-chat about their former tour and colleagues. (Patrick Reed might win the next 3 majors but still not receive an invitation for a fitting because he fears suing the seamstress). This removes one obstacle to a LIV player being selected for the matches in Rome. However, there are still others.
Captain Johnson spoke with the media on Wednesday at Oak Hill Country Club where he is competing in the 105th PGA Championship. The attributes he emphasized for his team were not random. They were camaraderie, and chemistry. These are loaded words in today’s world, and they cut to the heart of the debate about including LIV players at the Ryder Cup.
Koepka (D) and Johnson (D), both popular with their peers, would not be considered likely to affect the atmosphere in the team’s room (despite Koepka’s spat two years ago with the pseudoscientist at Whistling Straits).
This resolves practical concerns around chemistry, camaraderie and chemistry. Let’s now look at the philosophical side of things…
Last year, the U.S. Presidents Cup team was a tight-knit unit that had finally shed the jerks who had been causing trouble in the backroom for years. The task force, which was created almost a decade before it was actually formed after Phil Mickelson made another attempt to topple whatever power structure he could find, was meant to achieve this. The goal of the task force was to create consistency in all aspects — leadership, commitment, preparedness, and approach.
Zach Johnson was part of the process, and is still surrounded by his trusted team of former captains Davis Love III and Jim Furyk, as well as Steve Stricker. Is he likely to stray from the path that they have paved and gamble on two LIV players? The skipper was asked if he would spend any of his six picks in this manner. He bobbed around like a prizefighter.
I was just talking to some of my vice-captains about it the other day. “We’re at the point where it isn’t even an issue to discuss,” he said. “There are a few guys who have been close to getting into the top six but I don’t even think about it when it comes to picking.” It would be almost irresponsible and premature to get into this. “It’s not even on my radar at the moment.”
Another former captain responded in disbelief when he heard this comment. It’s just three months away. He probably has 20 men on his list.
Z was asked whether his namesake D would be included in the top twelve Americans, after his recent win on the LIV Circuit, even though it has been almost three years since his last win against an elite, deep field at the Masters 2020.
It’s really hard for me to judge. I’m not familiar with the golf courses that they play. They’ve never been there. “I’m not on foot there in person,” said he. You’re talking to someone with a very long and impressive resume. It’s fair to say that he’s one of the most talented players in my generation, but I cannot see his true form.
It’s fair to say that Captain Johnson was unable to testify because the CW affiliate Cedar Rapids, Iowa cut away from DJ’s victory at the weekend.
What is the future of Koepka then?
“I haven’t seen him since Augusta.” He played well that week, but one week is all it takes. Johnson responded, sounding like an unwilling high school quarterback who won’t commit to a date until the dress is zip-up.
Luke Donald’s counterpart will not be affected by the LIV issue until Rome. LIV has cost Europe a generation’s worth of future leaders, but not a single future player. While most European defectors have resigned their tour memberships or will do so rather than pay huge disciplinary fines and thereby remove themselves from Ryder Cup competition, Johnson still has the option of selecting LIV players.
It’s a choice he won’t make out of sheer desperation. His team is a veritable treasure trove. Even though Tony Finau won four times over the past 10 months, he’s still outside of the guaranteed top six slots. The most likely rookies in his team, Max Homa Sam Burns, and Cameron Young, are all ranked in the top 15 worldwide. This impressive list from which Johnson has to choose can also be used as an excuse if he wants to pick guys with extra baggage.
Johnson (Z), depending on their performance in the coming months — in majors, and in whatever broadcasts LIV airs in Iowa — may want them to be on his Ryder Cup team. There won’t come a point when he will need them.
