Brooks Koepka falls out of qualifying for U.S. Ryder Cup team as six players earn automatic spots

PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka dropped two positions in U.S. Ryder Cup points standings on Sunday, moving from fifth to seventh. That left him on the outside looking in at the top six players as the automatic qualifying period for the 2023 team playing next month in Rome ended after the BMW Championship.

Koepka, a three-time Ryder Cup participant, has only had opportunities to accrue points this year at the major championships as he plays on the LIV Golf League. But he got off to a hot start earlier this year with a second-place tie at the Masters in April, then followed it with an impressive victory at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in May. He tied for 17th place at the U.S. Open in June and tied for 64th place at the Open Championship last month.

Koepka has not played well in his last three LIV events, tying for 17th place in London, then tying for 38th place in both the Greenbrier and Bedminster events. His wife Jena gave birth to their son Crew on July 27 and just three days ago posted a photo on Instagram saying they were finally able to bring him home.

The top six who earned automatic selection to the U.S. team are Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Brian Harman, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele. Homa and Schauffele both passed Koepka after performances at Olympia Fields, finishing T-7 and T-8 respectively.

“You don't really want to sit around and wait for the phone call,” Schauffele said Sunday. “Been on both sides of it, to be completely honest, for a Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup team. I can't remember which one was a pick, which one was not. But I remember getting a call saying no and a call saying yes. It's nice to automatically qualify.”

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

U.S. captain Zach Johnson will make his six captain’s picks on Aug. 29, two days after the Tour Championship puts a close to the 2022-23 PGA Tour season. The European team will be partly finalized on Sept. 3, when three players are selected from a European points list and three are taken from a world points list. Luke Donald will make six captain's picks the next day. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland have already locked up their positions for Team Europe.