The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Love’s picks can wait
Ryder Cup captain able to delay choices until FedEx Cup.
In a normal year the nucleus of the U.S. Ryder Cup team would be chosen at the close of Sunday’s PGA Championship. But since the Olympics have compressed the schedule, points will be accumulated through the end of August at the Barclays, the first FedEx Cup event.
Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III said he would name three of his picks at the end of the BMW Championships and make his final selection after the Tour Championship at East Lake. This gives Love the flexibility to add the hottest players.
Double points are available this week. The only locks are Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth, with Phil Mickelson and Zach Johnson looking good. Currently the other top eight automatic qualifiers are J.B. Holmes, Brandt Snedeker, Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar.
That leaves Brooks Koepka — a personal favorite of Love — on the outside, along with Rickie Fowler and Patrick Reed — for now.
Schanen captures Georgia Women’s Am
Payton Schanen of Alpharetta shot a 1-over 217 and beat Janet Mao of Johns Creek in a playoff to win the Georgia Women’s Golf Association’s State Ama- teur Championship at Pinetree Country Club.
Schanen, a sophomore at Mercer, opened with a first-round 69, the lowest score posted in the tournament. She had a two-shot lead entering the final round, but Mao, a sophomore at Northwestern, caught her by shooting 71 to force a playoff.
Isabella Skinner of Cumming, a junior at Georgia, was third at 4-over 220, and Kayla Jones of Milton, a junior at Florida State, was fourth at 6 over.
Three Georgians join U.S. Am field
Georgians grabbed three of the four spots available at the U.S. Amateur qualifier at Newnan Country Club. The medalist was Ben Schlottman of Winston-Salem, N.C., a junior at Auburn, who shot 137. James Clark, a junior at Georgia Tech, and Chris Guglielmo, a senior at Kennesaw State, tied for second at 138. Spencer Ralston of Gainesville, a freshman at Georgia, beat Georgia State grad J.J. Grey in a playoff for the final spot.
Cassidy reaches Junior Am match play
Nick Cassidy of Johns Creek was the lone Georgian to reach match play at the U.S. Junior Amateur. Cassidy finished 48th in the stroke-play qualifier, but lost to Fred Lee of Australia in 19 holes in the first round at The Honors Course outside Chattanooga, Tenn. Cassidy was medalist in the Georgia High School Association’s largest classification in 2016.