Harris English might not have been on the US Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black last week, had a different rule been in play.
Dan Rapaport is insistent that something needs to change moving forward regarding the American Ryder Cup team setup, and he used English as an example as to why that’s the case.
English was forced to miss the Ryder Cup singles matches at Bethpage Black on Sunday due to Viktor Hovland sustaining a neck injury.
He ended the week with a record of two defeats from the two matches he played.
The 36-year-old was paired with Collin Morikawa in both foursomes sessions.
The English and Morikawa Ryder Cup partnership has been widely criticized.
But should the former Georgia Bulldog have been on Keegan Bradley‘s team to begin with?
Dan Rapaport wants ‘crazy’ Ryder Cup rule change which would have impacted Harris English
Firstly, it’s very important to note that English is a very good golfer, one of the most consistent on the PGA Tour in fact.
In 2025, he played 22 events, made 20 cuts, won once and recorded four top-10 finishes.
However, would Team USA have had a better chance of winning the Ryder Cup with a player like Maverick McNealy, Chris Gotterup or even Bradley himself playing? Quite possibly.
Rapaport was speaking on his Dan on Golf YouTube show when he came up with an idea to completely reshape the Ryder Cup qualifying process.
He said: “Another thing I was thinking about and this might sound a bit crazy but what about the points standings? Should we re-do the points?
“As it stands right now the top six in the standings make it automatically but those points start a whole calendar year before, so how you perform in a major 15 or 16 months before the Ryder Cup counts.
“I almost wonder if you go for the captain just pick the 12 guys. You might say that is going to lead to a boys club. No, it’s not!
“What just happened is unacceptable. Losing a Ryder Cup at home is unacceptable.
“So there would be a lot of overlap. It’s not like they are going to pick a bunch of guys who aren’t in the top 50 in the world who can’t find the middle of the club face, but maybe a little bit more leeway for the captain to be able to pick his team.
“You are still going to pick all the top 10 players, but maybe not having your hands tied by having a Harris English because he played well at a couple of majors on his own ball, it’s just so completely different.
“We are using the data and the points from all these 72 hole stroke play events played in the United States and it’s just not applicable to the Ryder Cup.“
Rapaport may well be on to something.
The US Ryder Cup team may have been weakened by qualification criteria
Xander Schauffele basically qualified for the Ryder Cup team in 2025 because of his two major championship wins in 2024.
Now, he ended up leaving Bethpage with a really impressive 3-1-0 record but he entered the week in terrible form.
Meanwhile, English finished runner-up in two major championships and won the Farmers Insurance Open, but did those achievements make him a good fit for Bethpage Black? That’s debatable.
What is certain is that if future US captains have 12 picks available to them, they will have the opportunity to take more in-form players to the Ryder Cup.
Perhaps that’s what has been missing for the Americans. The turning point for them could be less big name stars and more in-form players partaking in the Ryder Cup moving forward.
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