The eight automatic qualifiers for the USA Ryder Cup team to take on Europe at Le Golf National in Paris from 28 - 30 September have been confirmed and Brooks Koepka took top spot in the rankings with his hugely impressive victory at the US PGA Championship. We take a look at the Ryder Cup records of the players who have qualified.
Koepka won the third major title of his career by holding off the legendary Tiger Woods at Bellerive Country Club in St Louis and he will be key component of this American team in a little over six weeks' time. The 28-year-old has gone from strength-to-strength since helping the USA beat Europe for the first time since 2008 with Ryder Cup glory at Hazeltine almost two years ago, when he claimed three points from his four matches, and he has gone on to win the US Open twice, as well as the recent PGA Championship.
Latest Ryder Cup Odds:
Evens - USA
6/5 - Europe
Tie - 12/1
Koepka is oozing confidence and he forms part of a formidable American team that will include his potential fourballs and foursomes partner, Dustin Johnson. The pair won both of their matches together at the 2017 Presidents Cup and Johnson is currently the number one ranked player in the world
The 2017 PGA Championship winner, Justin Thomas, qualified for his Ryder Cup debut in third place and he forms part of a team that is full of major winners. Reigning Masters champion Patrick Reed will be the talisman of the side as he bids to enhance a ridiculously impressive win-rate of 77.78% in Ryder Cup matches, while two-time Masters champion, Bubba Watson, is looking to improve on a woeful Ryder Cup win return of 27.27% from 11 career matches.
Meanwhile, Jordan Spieth missed out on a potential career Grand Slam as the man who has won the Masters, US Open and Open Championship could only finish tied 12th at the PGA Championship on Sunday. The 25-year-old hasn't quite hit the heights of old this year but he has still been very consistent on the PGA Tour during 2018, while Rickie Fowler continues to churn out the results even if a maiden major win remains elusive.
The ultra-consistent Webb Simpson completes the list of eight men who have qualified automatically for the USA team as the 2012 US Open winner held off the challenge of Bryson De Chambeau and Phil Mickelson to finish in eighth spot of qualifying.
The players to miss out on automatic selection, including Mickelson, Tiger Woods and plenty more, will be relying on one of four captain's picks from Jim Furyk, who announces three of his wildcards on 3rd September before naming his final pick on 9th September.
