Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson learn Ryder Cup fate as Team USA selected
LIV Golf player Brooks Koepka is in Zach Johnson's United States Ryder Cup team - but Dustin Johnson is not.
Neither was among the six automatic qualifiers and faced the prospect of missing out on next month's tournament. Koepka, in particular, was in contention for one of those berths until slipping down to seventh on the points list.
That left the decision down to Captain Johnson, which he would have perhaps preferred to be out of his hands due to the contentiousness of the call. The rights and wrongs of including LIV members in the US team have caused much consternation over recent weeks.
Plenty of players across the sport have had their say on the matter. Koepka's wife, Jena Sims, even poked fun at the situation with a 'foreshadowing' social media post showing her husband eating a slice of pizza.
Ultimately, that photo showing him eating off a paper plate featuring the American flag has proved prescient. The PGA Championship winner joins Justin Thomas, Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, Colin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth as the six picks.
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Captain Johnson's selections were announced at the Home of the PGA of America in Frisco, Texas.
They join World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, US Open champion Wyndham Clark, Open winner Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele in the 12-strong team. Those dozen have known their fates since 20 August and the end of the BMW Championship.
Zach Johnson has named his six captain's picks (Getty Images)Half of those in Clark, Harman and Homa are Ryder Cup rookies for this year's tournament. Therefore, it is understandable that the American captain has opted to surround them with experienced heads.
Johnson's vice-captains also bring plenty of that to the table too. Steve Stricker was the first to get the nod and has since been joined this year by Davis Love III, Jim Furyk, Fred Couples and most recently, earlier this summer, Stewart Cink.
As for Team Europe, players must wait a little longer before finding out their fates. Only Masters champion Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, recently crowned FedEx Cup winner Viktor Hovland, and Tyrrell Hatton have sealed their places.
Below that quartet, Robert MacIntyre and Tommy Fleetwood are well-positioned to fill the last two open berths. However, with the European Masters coming up later this week, there are still points to play for.
As a result, captain Luke Donald is not naming his half-a-dozen picks until after the action in Switzerland is over. That announcement to complete the home line-up will come on Monday, September 4.
He has, however, already finalised his five vice-captains. Edoardo Molinari and Thomas Bjorn, after initially being put in position by Henrik Stenson, have been retained by Donald. Nicolas Colsaerts, Jose Maria Olazabal and Francesco Molinari have recently completed the five-strong set.
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