Scottie Scheffler gives verdict on Brooks Koepka playing in Ryder Cup

Scottie Scheffler has strongly insinuated that Brooks Koepka is a no-brainer wildcard choice for the US Ryder Cup team.

Koepka missed out on the six automatic berths in Zach Johnson’s side by the barest of margins after the final qualifying event at the BMW Championship, despite only collecting his own points in a handful of tournaments.

The five-time major champion looked nailed on to play in his fourth Ryder Cup after backing up a T2 finish at the Masters with his PGA Championship win back in May – but he is now relying on a wildcard pick from Johnson after finishing seventh in the US standings.

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It would be a hugely controversial move for Johnson to snub Koepka, given his status as a prolific Ryder Cup player and reigning major champion.

But the US skipper has been reserved on the prospect of LIV players making his team throughout his tenure as captain and Koepka is now waiting on a call ahead of the big captain’s picks announcement on August 29.

World No.1 Scheffler, however, has hinted that Koepka has done more than enough to make the cut.

“Brooks? I mean, I looked at the points list the other night. He was about, like 300 or, I think he was 30 points shy? Which is, I think it was the equivalent of like $30,000 throughout the year,” Scheffler told reporters on Wednesday.

“29, yeah, so if he played one tournament on the PGA Tour I think he probably would have been on the team.”

Scheffler was the first American player to secure his plane ticket to Rome, while Koepka was also edged out in the automatic race by Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele.

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Before that hotly-anticipated showdown near Rome, Scheffler has a big opportunity to almost double his incredible season earnings by winning the 2023 FedEx Cup this weekend.

The 27-year-old takes a two-shot lead into the Tour Championship at East Lake with an $18million bonus prize on the line.

But it would be fair to say that Scheffler is still not overly keen on the staggered scoring format that sees him take an advantage into the FedEx Cup Playoff finale.

“I wouldn’t say that it is the best format to identify the best golfer for the year,” he said.

“Jon Rahm played some of the best golf of anybody this year and he’s coming into this tournament fourth and he’s four shots back. And, in theory, he could have won 20 times this year and he would only have a two-shot lead.

“I get it. It’s made for TV. It’s more, it may be more exciting for the fans to have this type of format. But as players I think it’s not the best identifier of who is playing the best throughout the year.”

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.