Woods makes Ryder Cup case
ST. LOUIS — Jim Furyk will have to decide whether Tiger Woods is worthy of making his Ryder Cup team.
One of his vice captains sure thinks so.
After making a Sunday charge at the PGA Championship that came up just short of a victory — one that would have locked up his spot — Woods said he wants to do much more than just help Furyk call the shots as an assistant when the Americans head to France next month to defend the cup.
Woods wants to be hitting some shots, too.
“I do want to be on the team as a player. I'm going to be there either way,” said Woods, whose final-round 64 on Sunday left him two shots back of Brooks Koepka at Bellerive Country Club. “Our captain has some decisions to make after the first (FedEx Cup) playoff events, and we’ll sit down and give him our input and what we think and who should be on the team, and who can contribute to the team, and hopefully my name will be part of that process.” It’s a pretty safe bet. The PGA was the last event to secure one of the top eight spots in the Ryder Cup standings and an automatic berth to the team. And for all the craziness that went down at Bellerive, there was no real movement among the eight players who secured their spots.
Koepka merely put an exclamation mark on his; Justin Thomas showed he is in fine form with a final-round 68 and top-10 finish. Dustin Johnson’s spot had been secured, and Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler took any drama out of making the team simply by making the cut. Patrick Reed and Bubba Watson missed it, but nobody outside the top eight made a big run, and that means the Masters champion will join Watson on the team.
Webb Simpson was on the shakiest ground heading into the weekend, holding down the final spot. But he answered with four solid rounds at Bellerive, capped by a final-round 69 that left him with a top-20 finish; closest pursuers Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson missed the
cut.
Mickelson ended a streak of making 11 consecutive Ryder Cup teams on points, though he is likely to earn one of the four captain’s selections when Furyk hands them out next month.
DeChambeau will be in the mix for one, but there are plenty of other names who will try to impress Furyk over the next few weeks. Xander Schauffele was 11th in the rankings before his solid finish at the PGA; Kevin Kisner made an early run and finished in a tie for 12th.
Others who should get consideration include Tony Finau, Zach Johnson and Matt Kuchar.
Early returns had Europeans in lead
Rafa Cabrera Bello and Tyrrell Hatton began their final round together more than three hours before the last group, so far out of contention that nobody paid much attention.
Until they came to the 18th hole with recordsetting rounds in the crosshairs.
Both of the European Ryder Cup hopefuls made par at the last hole to shoot 6-under 64, one off the PGA Championship record, leaving each of them 9 under for the tournament. They were the leaders in the clubhouse for much of the afternoon and wound up in a tie for 10th, seven shots behind Koepka’s winning score.
“It was obviously a good day,” Hatton said. “I missed a lot of putts still, but 6 under and moving in the right direction on a final round of a major is always good.”
Kern sets record as top club pro
Ben Kern was assured of being the top club professional at the PGA Championship when he survived to play the weekend — the only one of the 20 that teed it up Thursday to make the cut.
He wound up with a fat paycheck to go with his crystal trophy.
Kern shot a thirdround 67 before finishing with an even-par 70, which left him at 3 under for the championship and tied for 42nd. That was good for $33,281 out of the $11 million purse.
“I knew if I had fun,” said Kern, who is the club professional at Georgetown Country Club in central Texas, “I would play well.”
He played so well that Kern set a PGA Championship for club pros. He finished at 277, breaking by two shots the score
Jimmy Wright shot in 1969 at NCR Country Club in Ohio. Wright finished fourth that year.