Keegan Bradley named his six Ryder Cup selections on Wednesday, choosing not to take on a playing captain role.
USA Ryder Cup qualifying list
Top six qualified automatically at the conclusion of the BMW Championship
- Scottie Scheffler (Q)
- JJ Spaun (Q)
- Xander Schauffele (Q)
- Russell Henley (Q)
- Bryson DeChambeau (Q)
- Harris English (Q)
- Justin Thomas
- Colin Morikawa
- Ben Griffin
- Maverick McNealy
- Keegan Bradley
- Brian Harman
- Andrew Novak
- Cameron Young
- Patrick Cantlay
- Sam Burns
Wildcard selection
Qualification ended at the conclusion of the BMW Championship on August 17.
USA captain Keegan Bradley made his six wildcard selections on Wednesday August 27.
The players selected were:
JUSTIN THOMAS
Seventh in points and a two-time major champion who returned to form by winning a Signature Event in the spring, Thomas's place was never in doubt after he won the RBC Heritage.
COLLIN MORIKAWA
Like Thomas, has just one top-10 finish in quite a while, in his case since March, and that was in lowly company. Some called for his exclusion as a result but has continued to strike the ball to a high standard and was given the benefit of any doubt.
BEN GRIFFIN
Emerged as a candidate with two wins in the spring albeit first was with a partner in Zurich Classic. Impressed further at Colonial and played so well in both the PGA and US Open, but then missed both cuts in July. However, has gone 11-9-12-10 since returning to the US and impressive Sunday rally in the BMW Championship followed by decent TOUR Championship sealed his spot.
CAMERON YOUNG
Would've been in Bradley's mind prior to the Wyndham Championship win owing to his course suitability, the fact that he's from New York, and flashes of excellent form including in the US Open. Still well short of qualifying automatically but subsequent form of 5-11-4 meant he was impossible to overlook.
PATRICK CANTLAY
Further down the standings than you'd like but plays a high-class schedule made up almost exclusively of Signature Events and majors, which means some results should be marked up. Obvious partner for Xander Schauffele, was defiantly brilliant in the last Ryder Cup as he has been in the Presidents Cup too, and second place at East Lake removed all doubt as to his selection, that's if there was any.
SAM BURNS
Similar to Cantlay in that he's further down than you'd like and in Burns' case, given modest performances for USA so far, couldn't have been considered a certainty, especially now Scottie Scheffler has found a suitable alternative partner in Russell Henley. That said, has played well throughout summer, almost won in Canada, and as expected has benefited from a suitable set of courses in the Playoffs. Fourth in BMW followed by seventh at East Lake earned him what many consider to be the final spot.
