BLAINE, Minn. — There’s a complex problem for Ryder Cup bubble players. Playing opportunities are running out, meaning Ryder Cup hopefuls have precious few chances to prove they are worthy of making the team that goes to Bethpage Black this fall.
Logic says it’s best to put your head down and get to work. The results will take care of themselves, the cliche goes. Easy. Just don’t think about it. Right?
“You can’t [not think about it],” says Gary Woodland, one of the U.S. vice captains, who is playing this week’s 3M Open. “It’s on your mind. It’s always on everybody’s mind, especially out here. To be one of those 12 guys is an honor. I have been out here 17 years and I have only made it once.”
There’s only four more events before the top six players in the U.S. standings are finalized, and after that it’s up to Keegan Bradley and his vice captains to make the captain’s picks.
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Maverick McNealy (11th in the standings), Sam Burns (15th), Wyndham Clark (16th), Tony Finau (21st) and Chris Gotterup (22nd) are a handful of the players at this week’s 3M Open who are vying for spots.
Bradley isn’t here, but four of his five vice captains are — Kevin Kisner, Webb Simpson, Brandt Snedeker and Woodland.
Woodland says that group of six (which includes vice captain Jim Furyk) talk every day on their text thread, which is aptly named “Ryder Cup.” He’s loving it. So is Kisner.
“We just are in constant communication looking at things, trying to figure out what everybody’s looking at, feeling,” Kisner said Thursday, after he shot a four-under 67. “Whatever Keegan needs. I don’t know what I’m doing as a vice captain, I just try to help out as much as I can.”
But first you need a team.
McNealy, at 18th in the world, is the highest-ranked player in this week’s field, and the former top-ranked amateur has yet to make a Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup team. Burns is only four spots behind him but might have a slight edge due to his relationship with Scottie Scheffler. They are best buds and have experience playing together in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.
McNealy hasn’t won this season but was the runner-up at a stacked Genesis Invitational. He’s also been sneaky good — only three missed cuts in 20 starts and six top 10s. He failed to go low like the rest of the field in the first round of the 3M Open on Thursday (even-par 71) but he’ll still be in the bubble conversation weeks from now regardless.
“There’s obviously still a couple of months left,” Woodland says. “There are a lot of guys that still have an opportunity to make the team; we’ll see how it goes.”
The U.S. team also has a potential dilemma if Bradley were to make the team or be a playing-captain. That’s not news to the U.S. leadership — yes, they have thought about this — as Bradley has moved to 10th in the standings following a 30th-place finish at the Open Championship, which came a month after he won the Travelers.
