Bryson DeChambeau Selected for Ryder Cup as First Six US Places Confirmed

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Golf Ball Against Blurred USA Flag

Scottie Scheffler continued doing what Scottie Scheffler does and added yet another PGA title to his resume, not to mention another $3.6m to his bank balance. This was his fifth PGA title of the year and another thing that the American world number one keeps doing is creating history. He continues to set records and whilst some are his alone, many of the marks he is setting are often matching, or in relation to, Tiger Woods.

This fifth win means he is the first player since Woods to win five or more tournaments in consecutive seasons. Woods managed that feat in 2006 and 2007 and while Scheffler lags well behind arguably the greatest player of all time in terms of career majors, comparisons between the two seem increasingly valid.

There was agony at Caves Valley for Scottish golfer Robert MacIntyre, as much as we can call winning over $2m and moving up to number seven in the world rankings agony. It looked like MacIntyre was going to run away with the title after opening rounds of 62 and 64 left him well clear of the chasing pack. A 68 on Saturday still meant he had a big lead heading into the final day but it quickly evaporated in the face of the sustained pressure of the world number one.

Scheffler now has that presence, that aura, that Woods had, that can strike fear into opponents. His scoring is relentless, with so few mistakes and the rare bogeys he does record frequently followed immediately by birdies. Here the American came from four back, shooting a closing 67 to finish two ahead of MacIntyre after the Brit shot a 73. That meant MacIntyre’s last round was 11 shots worse than his first and he declared afterwards that he wanted to “smash up my golf clubs”.

US Confirms Half of Ryder Cup Team

Scheffler’s brilliance and dominance will attract a lot of attention, as will the final tournament in the FedEx Cup series at Eastlake, Atlanta, the Tour Championship. All 30 players in the field will have a chance of winning the $10m prize and in a change to the format there will be no starting strokes this year. The finale of this lucrative competition will begin on the 21st of August, with a total prize fund of $40m – not bad for a 30-player field!

However, perhaps the biggest story following the BMW Championship is not its impact on the mega-bucks FedEx Cup, but rather how it affected the US Ryder Cup team. The Ryder Cup offers little or no money and is all about pride, patriotism and the collective. And following the conclusion of the event at Caves Valley, we now know the make-up of half the US team.

The 2025 Ryder Cup will be held at Bethpage on Long Island, New York. The testing, at times brutal, Bethpage Black, will see 12 US golfers battle to wrest back the Ryder Cup from Luke Donald and his European team. The USA use a system whereby half of the team are determine by a ranking system based on results up to and including the BMW Championship. The other six players will be chosen by the captain, Keegan Bradley.

Super Six Selected

The first six who can metaphorically pack their bags will not have to rely on Bradley favouring them. The skipper himself narrowly missed out, as we shall see, and it will be interesting to see if he opts to include himself in the final dozen.

    1. Scottie Scheffler (25,918.25 Points) – Scheffler qualified back in June but was always going to be playing. Easily the best player in the world, this will be his third Ryder Cup. He lost in 2023 and won in 2021 and will hope to be a leader in what might be an inexperienced team. He won a massive 25,918 points, more than 11,000 more than JJ Spaun in second!
    2. JJ Spaun (14,638.91 Points) – Spaun is a likeable player who has really had a breakthrough season. Up to six in the world rankings, he lost a play-off to Rory at the Players but bounced back and won the US Open
    3. Xander Schauffele (13,570.02 Points) – Schauffele has the same Ryder Cup appearance record as Scheffler and is now ranked third in the world. He won two majors in 2024 but has not won an event this year
    4. Russell Henley (11,904.82 Points) – Making his debut, Henley is 36 and ranked at an all-time high of fourth in the world
    5. Bryson DeChambeau (10,774.98 Points) – DeChambeau needs no introduction, and the LIV man played in the 2018 and 2021 Ryder Cup but missed out last time around, having joined the breakaway tour. Boasts two majors and is ranked down in 18th due to his lack of opportunities to earn world ranking points
    6. Harris English (10,439.55 Points) – The last man to earn automatic qualification pipped Justin Thomas by the finest of margins. English played at the 2021 Ryder Cup but collected just one point from three matches

Who Missed Out?

The table below shows the ranking points of the players who finished seventh to 15th. For reference, English accrued 10,439.55 points, so Thomas will certainly be both upset to have missed out but also highly optimistic of earning one of the captain’s picks.

Rank Player Points Previous Ryder Cups
7 Justin Thomas 10,347.59 3
8 Collin Morikawa 9929.77 2
9 Ben Griffin 9304.76 0
10 Keegan Bradley 8103.00 2
11 Maverick McNealy 7553.65 0
12 Andrew Novak 7230.48 0
13 Brian Harman 7194.16 1
14 Cameron Young 6689.64 0
15 Patrick Cantlay 6570.39 2

It is perfectly possible that Bradley could select players who finished lower down the pecking order too. The likes of Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark, Lucas Glover, Chris Gotterup and many others will feel they might have a chance too. Heading lower down the points table, even the likes of experienced golfers such as Jordan Spieth (32nd in the rankings) could be surprise inclusions, depending on how the skipper feels.

Some of those in contention will be teeing it up at East Lake and a strong performance there is sure to boost their chances. Bradley himself may base his decision on whether to be a playing captain on how he performs in Atlanta. Thomas and Morikawa seem almost certain to be selected, but Bradley has said he remains undecided on all picks, including himself. Time will tell who gets the nod, but the six players above can be thankful they do not have that issue hanging over them as they head to the Tour Championship decider.