We’re only a few months away from the Ryder Cup now and after Ben Griffin won the Charles Schwab this week, Smylie Kaufman has sent a warning to some of the big names in the mix to make the team.
Griffin’s win at Colonial moved him up inside the top 20 for the Ryder Cup standings and with just the top six guaranteed a spot, it’s wide open as to who Bradley picks beyond that.
Right now, there are a bunch of names hoping to get the nod, including some stellar names.
The likes of Jordan Spieth, Max Homa and Patrick Cantlay are just a couple outside the top six right now, but they have played before and proven themselves on the big stage.
However, according to Smylie Kaufman, there’s a big issue for those star names right now, with Homa in particular in a bad position.
Smylie Kaufman says who Keegan Bradley could pick for the Ryder Cup
Kaufman was getting into the Ryder Cup selection process on the latest episode of his Smylie Show podcast, and in doing so, he got onto who might take the six captain’s picks.
And while there’s so many in contention, Kaufman fired a warning to some of the big names like Spieth and Homa.
“Well, I mean, Andrew Novak and Ben Griffin have won a title together this year. So if you’re starting to make a case for Novak and Ben, which, shoot, they’ve been as hot as any American this year outside of a couple of guys. They both have two wins to their name and have been consistently, let me just think about Ben and Andrew this year,” Kaufman said.
“And anytime you look at a leaderboard, like these guys are in the top 25 every single week. So at what point do you really start to say Ben and Andrew should be on the same? Hey, the matchups are already there.
“They play alternate shot together well. They have experience playing together. Now they have no experience playing Ryder Cups, which we know what that’s like.
“And you have to wonder with Andrew, he played good in the first round, but really struggled on Friday at the PGA, but he’s playing with Keegan Bradley. How much has that weighed on him? Just getting to see 36 holes of him and seeing him play poorly in one round, but well in the first round.”
Going into further detail on who might end up making a late push to be on the team, Kaufman then suggested a few names who could do just that, while some big names could miss out.
“They’re going to have to do more than just make cuts and finish between fifth to 40th in events. Like Tony Finau, Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark, all these guys. You’ve kind of mentioned Max [Homa],” Kaufman continued.
“I mean, Max Homa has got to do a ton to make this team. It seems like that group of guys, I just kind of mentioned, I think Cantlay is going to be on the team and Harman probably is going to be on the team. But that group of those veterans, they’re going to have to, one of them is going to have to jump through this door because they have other guys that are technically playing better than them.”
The current Team USA Ryder Cup standings
Making a Ryder Cup team is always a dream for many players and right now, there are just a few players who seem ‘locked in’ in terms of those top six spots.
Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas seem to be secure in those top six, while Collin Morikawa is also assumed to be going.
After that, things tighten up a bit with Russell Henley taking the current sixth spot and then as Kaufman mentions, a whole host of players lined up behind.
As Kaufman suggests, it’s going to take something special from a Jordan Spieth or a Max Homa to get in there and come September, we could be seeing a brand new looking USA Team.
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