The US PGA Championship takes centre stage this week and the final major of the year provides one last opportunity for American players to secure an automatic spot in the USA's Ryder Cup team. The eight automatic qualifiers for the twelve-man team will be confirmed when this week's action at the Bellerive Country Club in St Louis, Missouri, concludes on Sunday and there is still all to play for.
American captain Jim Furyk, who will be able to name four further wildcard picks in September, should be able to call upon a strong USA side for the clash with Europe at Le Golf National in Paris from 28-30 September and we have taken a look at the five PGA Championship groupings to look out for on Thursday, specifically with the Ryder Cup in mind...
1.17pm - Jim Furyk - Tony Finau - Xander Schauffele
Furyk will get the chance to get a close up view of a couple of Ryder Cup hopefuls as Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau bid to enhance their prospects. Schauffele is 11th in the projected rankings for the USA team after winning two PGA Tour titles since joining the main tour last season, while Finau is 13th after finishing in the top-ten of all three major tournaments this year. Finau previously represented the USA as an amateur at the junior Ryder Cup.
1.39pm - Rickie Fowler - Hideki Matsuyama - Ian Poulter
Two of the more colourful Ryder Cup characters tee off together on Thursday as American Rickie Fowler and Ian Poulter are part of a grouping that includes Japanese star Hideki Matsuyama. Both Fowler and Poulter are chasing their maiden major titles at Bellerive this week, with Fowler 7th in the projected rankings for the USA team and Poulter, who has so often been the talisman for Europe in the past, currently just outside an automatic qualifying spot for Thomas Bjorn's European team.
2.23pm - Justin Thomas - Tiger Woods - Rory McIlroy
This grouping is full of quality as Europe's Rory McIlroy is in a group that includes the defending US PGA champion Justin Thomas and the legendary Tiger Woods. McIlroy will no doubt be a shoe-in for the European Ryder Cup side after he tied 6th at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, although the Northern Irishman is bidding to end a four-year major drought that stretches back to when he won the second of his US PGA Championship titles in 2014.
Thomas is a certainty to qualify for the American Ryder Cup team after the world number two won the WGC Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday, although Tiger Woods is 20th in the American Ryder Cup rankings and has work to do if he is to qualify automatically. Surely he will get a captain's pick if he doesn't succeed...
See you in Paris, JT!🇺🇸
7.15pm - Brooks Koepka - Patrick Reed - Francesco Molinari
This grouping involves all three of the major winners of this year as Brooks Koepka (US Open), Patrick Reed (US Masters) and Francesco Molinari (Open Championship) tee off together. Molinari tops the European points list and will get the chance to take an early look at America's Koepka and Reed, who are ranked 3rd and 4th in the USA's points list.
7.37pm - Jordan Spieth - Jon Rahm - Justin Rose
Finally, America's Jordan Spieth will join Europe's Jon Rahm and Justin Rose, with all three players set to tee up for the Ryder Cup next month. Rose tops the world points list for the European team, while Spieth isn't quite sure of his spot in America's top-eight but he has surely done enough to get through automatically. The 25-year-old American is looking to complete a career Grand Slam in majors as the US PGA is the only one missing from a CV that includes victories at the Masters, US Open and Open Championship.
US PGA Championship Tee Times (Thursday 9th August, all times British Standard Time):
Start at Hole No. 1
12:50 Eddie Pepperell (Eng), Michael Block (US), Ryan Fox (NZ)
13:01 Austin Cook (US), Craig Hocknull (Aus), Alexander Bjork (Swe)
13:12 Yusaku Miyazato (Jpn), Bob Sowards (US), Scott Brown (US)
13:23 Thomas Bjorn (Den), Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa), James Hahn (US)
13:34 Billy Horschel (US), Byeong-Hun An (Kor), Shane Lowry (Ire)
13:45 Yuta Ikeda (Jpn), Brian Harman (US), Adam Hadwin (Can)
13:56 Jimmy Walker (US), Padraig Harrington (Ire), Vijay Singh (Fij)
14:07 Bryson DeChambeau (US), Andy Sullivan (Eng), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (Tha)
14:18 Cameron Smith (Aus), Ryan Armour (US), Peter Uihlein (US)
14:29 Paul Dunne (Ire), JB Holmes (US), Dylan Frittelli (SA)
14:40 Charles Howell III (US), Jason Schmuhl (US), Brian Gay (US)
14:51 David Muttitt (US), Ollie Schniederjans (US), Troy Merritt (US)
15:02 Shawn Warren (US), Mikko Korhonen (Fin), JJ Spaun (US)
18:20 Brandon Stone (SA), Johan Kok (SA), Whee Kim (Kor)
18:31 Matt Wallace (Eng), Matt Dobyns (US), Beau Hossler (US)
18:42 Chris Wood (Eng), Alex Noren (Swe), Matt Kuchar (US)
18:53 Bubba Watson (US), Dustin Johnson (US), Adam Scott (Aus)
19:04 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn), Marc Leishman (Aus)
19:15 Brooks Koepka (US), Patrick Reed (US), Francesco Molinari (Ita)
19:26 Sergio Garcia (Spa), Gary Woodland (US), Kevin Kisner (US)
19:37 Jordan Spieth (US), Jon Rahm (Spa), Justin Rose (Eng)
19:48 Paul Casey (Eng), Aaron Wise (US), Zach Johnson (US)
19:59 Louis Oosthuizen (SA), Thomas Pieters (Bel), Bill Haas (US)
20:10 Lee Westwood (Eng), Joaquin Niemann (Chi), Daniel Berger (US)
20:21 Omar Uresti (US), Justin Harding (SA), Andrew Landry (US)
20:32 Matthew Borchert (US), Chris Stroud (US), Winner of Barracuda
Start at Hole No.10
12:55 Rich Berberian Jr (US), Jamie Lovemark (US), Shugo Imahira (Jpn)
13:06 Brandt Snedeker (US), Sean McCarty (US), Haotong Li (Chn)
13:17 Jim Furyk (US), Tony Finau (US), Xander Schauffele (US)
13:28 Martin Kaymer (Ger), Davis Love III (US), Rich Beem (US)
13:39 Rickie Fowler (US), Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn), Ian Poulter (Eng)
13:50 Danny Willett (Eng), Henrik Stenson (Swe), Pat Perez (US)
14:01 Jason Day (Aus), Phil Mickelson (US), Keegan Bradley (US)
14:12 Shubhankar Sharma (Ind), Jordan Smith (Eng), Scott Piercy (US)
14:23 Rory McIlroy (NI), Justin Thomas (US), Tiger Woods (US)
14:34 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng), Webb Simpson (US), Jhonattan Vegas (Ven)
14:45 Stewart Cink (US), Branden Grace (SA), Ryan Moore (US)
14:56 Ross Fisher (Eng), Alexander Levy (Fra), Patton Kizzire (US)
15:07 Julian Suri (US), Sungjae Imn (Kor), Craig Bowden (US)
18:15 Chesson Hadley (US), Daniel Balin (US), Russell Henley (US)
18:26 Marty Jertson (US), Luke List (US), Kevin Chappell (US)
18:37 Nick Watney (US), Jaysen Hansen (US), Kyle Stanley (US)
18:48 Ted Potter Jr (US), Emiliano Grillo (Arg), Jorge Campillo (Spa)
18:59 Ryan Vermeer (US), Paul Broadhurst (Eng), John Daly (US)
19:10 Si Woo Kim (Kor), Brice Garnett (US), Tyrrell Hatton (Eng)
19:21 Yong-eun Yang (Kor), Shaun Micheel (US), Jason Dufner (US)
19:32 Charl Schwartzel (SA), Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Patrick Cantlay (US)
19:43 Brendan Steele (US), Adrian Otaegui (Spa), Kevin Na (US)
19:54 Charley Hoffman (US), Chez Reavie (US), Russell Knox (Sco)
20:05 Michael Kim (US), Seung-su Han (US), Zachary J Johnson (US)
20:16 Brian Smock (US), Anirban Lahiri (Ind), Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra)
20:27 Ben Kern (US), Ryuko Tokimatsu (Jpn), Chris Kirk (US)
