Weeks Ahead of Rome Showdown, Brooks Koepka Faces a Forbidding Challenge From 7x PGA Tour Champion

The Ryder Cup is without a doubt the most anticipated event of the whole men’s golf season. The golfers find pride and honor in representing their team on the grand stage. Each team consists of 12 players, of whom six automatically qualify for the prestigious international face-off, and the remainder are handpicked by the team captain and vice captain. Hence, the pressure until the very end, if not automatically qualified, is very real for the golfers.

The final results of the standings will be declared after the ongoing BMW Championship at Olympia Field in Illinois. Until then, however, one player’s fate is Rome-Brooks Koepka. Moreover, as per a recent report, it seems like that thread is thinning further by the minute, considering the 5X major champion may just lose out on his spot in the top 6 auto-qualification sports.

PGA Tour pro may steal Brooks Koepka’s spot in the Ryder Cup 

When the BMW event began, Brooks Koepka was sitting in the 4th position with 9421.15 points, and his fellow golfer, Xander Schauffele, had acquired the 5th spot with 8671.98 points. Though Koepka’s stunning finish in the Masters and his even more stellar win at Oak Hill helped him solidify his spot in the top 6, being a LIV golfer and not able to earn more points, his position is still somewhere in jeopardy.

The anticipation for the final Ryder Cup team is truly off the charts for golfers and fans alike. With two more days left for the BMW Championship, as every hole goes by, the uncertainty around the Ryder Cup standings increases, and the shuffles are just tremendous.

As reported by Justin Ray, after two rounds, Koepka is projected to stay in the final automatic qualifying spot for the U.S. “by 71 points” over Xander Schauffele. However, Ray claimed that entering the third round, the PGA Tour pro was “just one shot back” from stealing the LIV golfer’s spot.

It is indeed true that the 2023 PGA Championship winner’s fate hangs in the balance until the end of August 20th, as his spot of automatic qualification can be snatched from under his feet, and he won’t be able to do anything about it. He currently holds the 5th spot as per the live cup rankings, while Schauffele stands 7th, just 590.876 behind him. However, the big question remains: does Koepka deserve a spot in the Ryder Cup if he does not qualify via the standings?

Read More: Despite His Cryptic Facade, Team US Ryder Cup Captain Zach Johnson Exudes Confidence in 21x PGA Tour Champion: ‘Done a Million of These’

If not by standings, will Brooks Koepka represent his country in Rome, Italy?

The 2023 season has been a good one so far for the former world no. 1 golfer. He has displayed his exceptional golfing skills right from the season’s start at Augusta, where he finished second. His great golf continued in his league, LIV Golf, and then at Oak Hill, where he became the first LIV golfer to win a major.

US team captain Zach Johnson has yet to make his picks, and he will be doing so after the conclusion of the BMW Championship. Although many assume that Johnson may not pick Koepka for the team because of the LIV Golf bias, the Team USA skipper has made it clear that he will be looking at American players as a whole and not just Tour players. Hence, the LIV star could just find himself in Rome as a captain’s pick.

What do you think the US team will look like this year? And will Koepka be on it if he fails to retain his spot in automatic qualification? Tune in over the next two days to find out!

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