Zach Johnson has his guys.
The U.S. Ryder Cup captain and St. Simons Island, Ga., resident made three obvious picks and three prone to discussion Tuesday when he filled out the 12-man roster that will play against Europe at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
Johnson went to the first two spots outside the top-six that automatically made the team, LIV Golf member Brooks Koepka at No. 7 and Jordan Spieth at No. 8. He also selected No. 10 Collin Morikawa, who was 3-0-1 in 2021 at Whistling Straits.
Get the real story: Want inside info on what went down at the Ryder Cup? Come listen to the captain at Timuquana
But Johnson passed No. 9 Cameron Young (who has yet to play in a Ryder Cup) and No. 11 Keegan Bradley and selected Sam Burns (12th), Rickie Fowler (13th) and Justin Thomas (15th).
They will join automatic qualifiers Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman of St. Simons Island, Ga., Max Homa and Xander Schauffele as the U.S. tries to win on European soil for the first time since 1993.
“These are the six guys we feel we need to complement the guys [already on the team] and make this team complete,” Johnson said during a news conference from PGA of America headquarters in Frisco, Texas. “I think these six guys are built for going over there and competing.”
Johnson passed on Young, Bradley
Johnson’s selection of Koepka is the first time a non-PGA Tour player has made the U.S. team.
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The pick of Thomas, the 2021 Players champion, could be the most controversial. Thomas did not make the FedEx Cup playoffs, has dipped to 26th on the world rankings, did not win this year, had only three top-10s and missed five of his last eight cuts.
Young had been playing better, with a tie for eighth at the Open Championship, a tie for sixth at the John Deere and a tie for 15th at the BMW Championship.
Bradley won his second tournament in June at The Travelers and tied for ninth last week at the Tour Championship.
Also with an outside chance was Lucas Glover, who won twice late in the season.
But Johnson went for Ryder Cup experience with Koepka (6-5-1), Spieth (8-7-3), Thomas (6-2-1) and Fowler (3-7-5).
Thomas is relieved
“I put a lot of pressure on myself to make this team because it means that much to me,” Thomas said. “You can want something too bad. But we’re all equal on this team. I’m very excited. Now I can relax.”
There was some speculation that Johnson would pass on Koepka since he did not play on the PGA Tour and only mixed it up with potential Ryder Cup teammates at the four major championships.
But Koepka won the PGA, finished second at the Masters and tied for 17th at the U.S. Open. He made the cut at the Open Championship but tied for 64th.
It was good enough for Johnson.
“He had an opportunity and seized it at the four majors,” Johnson said.
European team set Monday
Four players have clinched spots on the European team, FedEx Cup champion Viktor Hovland, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton. Two more automatic picks will be solidified this week at the European Masters in Switzerland and captain Luke Donald will make his six captain’s picks Monday.
The U.S. team will have four rookies, Clark, Harman, Homa and Burns — three of them among the automatic qualifiers.
But Scheffler, Cantlay and Schauffele are a combined 8-1-1 in the Ryder Cup. The only member of the team with a losing record in the event is Fowler.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Brooks Koepka will be the only LIV player on the U.S. Ryder Cup team
