With the conclusion of the 100th PGA Championship at Bellerive, eight of the 12 spots on Ryder Cup USA have been filled by automatic qualifiers.
PGA Champion Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson – in that order – are the eight players who automatically qualified for the 2018 U.S. team that will compete at Le Golf National near Paris in September. The PGA Championship was the final chance for Americans to earn Ryder Cup points.
The four remaining slots on the U.S. Team will be Captain’s Selections. Three selections will be announced by Captain Jim Furyk following the Dell Technologies Championship on Sept. 3, and the final selection will be announced after the BMW Championship on Sept. 9.
Brooks Koepka, who made his Ryder Cup debut in 2016, was the top point-getter for the U.S. over the last two seasons thanks to his back-to-back wins at the U.S. Open, followed by his PGA Championship win at Bellerive Country Club.
Koepka went 3-1-0 in the 2016 Ryder Cup.
Johnson was first in the standings prior to the PGA Championship after three wins on the PGA Tour this season and four in 2017. The 2016 U.S. Open winner will play in his fourth Ryder Cup. He has a 6-5-0 record in his Ryder Cup career.
Thomas will make his Ryder Cup debut after clinching a spot on the team after his win at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He has three wins and seven top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season, including a T-6 finish at the PGA Championship.
Reigning Masters Champion Patrick Reed will make his third consecutive Ryder Cup appearance. He was one of the first players to clinch an automatic spot on the team in large part because of his three-month stretch from March to May when he finished in the top 10 at six straight PGA Tour events. He has a 6-1-2 career record in the Ryder Cup.
Two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson will play in his fourth Ryder Cup and his first since 2014.
At just 25 years old, Jordan Spieth will play in his third career Ryder Cup. Spieth won The Open in 2017 at Royal Birkdale and he is a PGA Championship win away from the career grand slam. He has a 4-3-2 career record at the Ryder Cup.
Rickie Fowler was near the top of the leaderboard during the 100th PGA Championship as he eyed his first career major. He finished second at the Masters this year and earned a pair of T5 finishes in majors last year at the U.S. Open and PGA Championship. His appearance at Le Golf National will be his third time representing the U.S. in the Ryder Cup.
Webb Simpson, the winner of the 2012 U.S. Open, claimed the eighth and final automatic qualifying spot for the American Ryder Cup team. He has represented the U.S. twice at the Ryder Cup, most recently in 2014.
