As expected, the vast majority of American players who will compete in the Ryder Cup at Bethpage have answered the call of Keegan Bradley and Scottie Scheffler and have signed up to play next week at the Procore Championship, the first tournament of the autumn PGA Tour taking place in Napa, at the Silverado Golf Club. The aim is to stay in competition, not to be inactive for four weeks between the Tour Championship and the big event in New York.
Specifically, ten of the twelve team members have signed up. One of the absences was expected. We are referring, of course, to Bryson DeChambeau, a LIV Golf player who cannot play on the PGA Tour as he is suspended. The other absence has been more surprising. It is Xander Schauffele. It should be noted that the World Number 3 did not even play the Tour Championship, so he will be more than a month without playing tournaments. Remember that between the Procore Championship and the Ryder Cup there are no tournaments on the PGA Tour, so unless there is a major surprise, such as him signing up to play in another circuit, Schauffele has decided to focus on working on his swing and training, leaving competition for the Ryder Cup itself. We will see how it turns out for him because it has not been his best season, somewhat hindered by an intercostal injury at the start of the season. His decision could also be related to the physical aspect.
The other 10 American players of the Ryder Cup will be in Napa: Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin, Morikawa, Cantlay, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Henley, Harris English, and Spaun. Curiously, Keegan Bradley, the team captain, will not be there either. This might be as surprising as Schauffele’s absence. It is true that Bradley is not going to play at Bethpage and does not need to sharpen his form, but it seemed an ideal situation to share the week with the team. Be that as it may, it should not be ruled out that Bradley will be in Napa and has decided not to play precisely to avoid comments in case he did very well. There has already been enough debate and controversy about his inclusion in the team to fuel it again two weeks before the Ryder.
It should be noted that next week we will have 21 of the 24 Ryder Cup players competing, as 11 of the 12 from Europe will be in Wentworth, at the BMW PGA Championship. The only absence will be Sepp Straka. It is now official that the Austrian will not be in the tournament, as Luke Donald announced earlier this week, since the third invitation that was pending for the circuit’s flagship tournament has been awarded to Australian Adam Scott.
