United States captain Steve Stricker named Daniel Berger, Harris English, Tony Finau, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele and Jordan Spieth as his six wild-card picks for this month’s Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits.
The group joins automatic qualifiers Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay.
The biggest surprise was the omission of Patrick Reed, a veteran of three matches who was the top scorer for the U.S. side in 2014 and 2016. Reed recently was hospitalized with bilateral pneumonia and also had been dealing with an ankle injury.
“(I) kind of lost sleep over that one,” Stricker admitted. “He’s a tremendous competitor. He brings a lot to match-play golf. His record here at the Ryder Cup is pretty darned good. It was just the uncertainty of his health and really the lack of play that led to our decision down the stretch.”
Webb Simpson, Billy Horschel, Kevin Kisner, Sam Burns and Kevin Na were among the other players thought to be under consideration for a wild-card selection.
The Open Championship will be staged at Royal Portrush in 2025, the R&A has announced. The game’s oldest major will return to Northern Ireland six years after Shane Lowry won the Claret Jug over the Dunluce course. It will be Royal Portrush’s third hosting of the Open along with the 1951 championship, when England’s Max Faulkner was crowned champion golfer of the year.
“We could not be more thrilled to be bringing the Open back to Royal Portrush in 2025,” R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said. “There will be huge excitement among golf fans around the world to see the best men’s players facing the challenge of this magnificent links once again.”
“The Open in 2019 was a massive success and showed just how much collective enthusiasm, passion and commitment there is to make Royal Portrush one of the leading venues for the championship.”
One of the first people to applaud the decision to return to Royal Portrush was 2019 champion Lowry.
“It’s great to be going back so quickly. Obviously, I’m very biased, it’s one of the best Opens I’ve played in,” the Irishman said.
Iconic Australian golf club Royal Melbourne has instituted a strict “no jab, no play” policy to try to battle COVID-19. The club’s 200 staff members have been told that players will have to show proof of at least one COVID-19 vaccination before they can play the course when it reopens following current closure because of the pandemic.
Club captain Andrew Kirby told The Age newspaper: “We got incredibly strong support from the members, an amazing number of notes and passionate support from staff and from other clubs. We’ve got lots of rules in golf and here’s another one. If you want to play, you’ll have to be vaccinated. At least one jab, then two and of course there’ll be a system of registration.”
Kirby, a commercial attorney, said there will be exemptions for those who can’t get vaccinated because of medical reasons. However, he also said the club will clamp down hard on anti-vaxxers.
“A legitimate medical reason will not be: ‘I am waiting for Pfizer; I could not get a vaccination appointment yet; I don’t trust the vaccines; the vaccines are a conspiracy to embed us with 5G network tracking devices, etc.,’ ” Kirby told Royal Melbourne staff.
European network Sky Sports has committed to a three-year extension of its existing rights to cover the Ladies European Tour and LPGA Tour and will continue to cover all five women’s majors.
“Sky Sports has been a proud supporter of women’s golf for decades,” said Sky Sports director of golf Jason Wessely. “Today we are pleased to announce new agreements with the LPGA and LET, both of which are adding new events to their schedules.”
The Women’s Scottish Open and the Solheim Cup will continue to be shown as part of the extension.
TAP-INS
The “Birdies for Better” campaign during the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open raised more than $46,000 for NHS Charities Together and the Ramathibodi Foundation in Thailand, said Prin Singhanart, the founder of the event’s lead sponsor. … The R&A Students Tour Series returned at Fairmont St Andrews last week, with other events to be played in Ireland, Spain and Portugal at venues that have staged the Open Championship and other marquee events.
Staff and Wire Reports