U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson said that LIV players might still be allowed to compete in the event later this year.
“No decisions have been made,” Johnson told reporters Wednesday ahead of the Zurich Classic, where he’s teaming with assistant captain Steve Stricker.
“There’s still a lot of time left in that regard, and so many fluid factors involved. As far as personally making decisions, no.”
The Ryder Cup eligibility of the players who left for LIV Golf remains an open question with the event now five months away.
It is not yet clear whether LIV players will be allowed to participate on the European team, captained by former world No. 1 Luke Donald. DP World Tour chief executive Keith Pelley said earlier this month, after his tour won an arbitration dispute with LIV Golf, that “it will be more difficult” for those players to qualify for the team because of additional sanctions the circuit may impose.
Both Johnson and Donald have six automatic qualifier spots and six wildcard selections for the Sept. 29-Oct. 1 event at Marco Simone in Italy.
“If they qualify for the Ryder Cup, then they can play on the Ryder Cup,” Pelley said at the time, “but I think it will be difficult for them to do so.”
Despite being ruled ineligible by the PGA Tour, LIV players can still earn U.S. Ryder Cup points through their performances in the major championships. Brooks Koepka, who tied for second at the Masters, is the highest-ranked LIV player, at No. 17 in the standings. Phil Mickelson (No. 22), Dustin Johnson (No. 30) and Patrick Reed (No. 34) also have past Ryder Cup experience.
The qualifying deadline is in four months, after the BMW Championship, the second leg of the FedExCup playoffs. Currently, the top six automatic qualifiers for the American side would be Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Cameron Young, Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay.
As for how he would select the remainder of the team, Johnson said Wednesday, “There’s numerous factors, and I’m going to rely heavily on the guys that actually make the team because it’s their team. So I don’t know who those six are going to be, obviously, but their ownership and their opinions will weigh heavily into what I – what we – decide to do.”
As a result, Johnson said, it’s still possible that LIV members could be part of the team that heads to Rome looking for its first win on European soil in three decades.
“To garner Ryder Cup points or be eligible for PGA of America Ryder Cup points and PGA Championship points, you have to be a member of the PGA of America,” Johnson said. “Those individuals that have left the PGA Tour, to my knowledge, are still members of the PGA of America. There’s a grace period involved there. I don’t know the specifics.”
