Brooks Koepka misses out on automatic Ryder Cup spot 

Brooks Koepka is now relying on a captain’s pick from Zach Johnson to make the US Ryder Cup team after narrowly missing out on the six automatic qualifying berths.

Koepka looked nailed on for the Ryder Cup after backing up his runner-up finish at the Masters with his fifth major victory at the PGA Championship back in May.

But the LIV golfer only had the chance to claim Ryder Cup points during majors this season and fell outside the top six positions after the final qualifying event, the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields.

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Koepka had started the week inside the automatic Ryder Cup standings, but was leapfrogged by Xander Schauffele, who finished in a tie for eighth, while Max Homa also secured his spot with a share of fifth.

Schauffele and Homa are joined by Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman and Patrick Cantlay as Johnson’s six locked-in players ahead of the showdown against Team Europe in Rome.

“You don’t really want to sit around and wait for the phone call,” Schauffele said after securing his place. “Been on both sides of it. I remember getting a call saying, ‘No’ and a call saying, ‘Yes.’ It’s nice to automatically qualify.”

Koepka, however, has slipped down to seventh in the US rankings and is suddenly banking on a call from Johnson.

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The former world No.1 finished 17th at the US Open and 64th at The Open after his success in the first two majors.

And in the last three LIV events he has struggled for form, finishing T17 in London and then T38 at both the Greenbrier and Bedminster events.

Behind Koepka in the standings are Jordan Spieth, Cameron Young, Collin Morikawa, Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns, Rickie Fowler, Denny McCarthy, Justin Thomas and Lucas Glover.

Johnson will make a decision whether to select Koepka as a wildcard when declaring his six captain’s picks on August 29, two days after the PGA Tour’s season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.