U.S Captain Jim Furyk tweaks Ryder Cup selection process to put emphasis on form
Points system used to determine automatic qualifiers remains largely intact, but a change has been made in how points awarded during the Ryder Cup year as well as the timing of the captain’s picks
US Ryder Cup captain Jim Furyk tweaked the selection criteria for the 2018 Ryder Cup against Europe by placing a premium on in-form players.
A points system used to determine eight automatic qualifiers has remained largely intact, but a change has been made in how many points are awarded during the Ryder Cup year as well as the timing of the captain’s picks.
Furyk will make three of his captain’s picks following the 2018 Dell Technologies Championship, the second of four FedEx Cup play-off events in 2018, which is scheduled to finish on September 3, and his final selection will be announced a week later after the BMW Championship.
Last year, former Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III selected three players after the first play-off event and made his final pick after the play-off finale, the Tour Championship.
Like recent editions of the biennial competition versus Europe, US players will earn points this season and next in the run up to the September event at Le Golf National in Paris.
Only golf’s bigger events, however, will offer Ryder Cup points in 2017, including one point earned for every US$1,000 won at the four majors; the Masters, US Open, British Open and PGA Championship.
Watch: Jim Furyk announce changes to the US Ryder Cup selection criteria
ICYMI: Some changes to the selection criteria for the 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup team. pic.twitter.com/9MarWFvbop— Ryder Cup USA (@RyderCupUSA) February 9, 2017
The four WGC events and The Players Championship will award one point for every US$2,000 earned.
In 2018, there will be more opportunities to earn points at regular PGA Tour events while the marquee events will offer bigger points.
The winners of the 2018 majors will earn two points per US$1,000 won while every player to make the cut will get one and a half points per US$1,000 earned.
PGA Tour events in 2018 through to the PGA Championship in August will offer one point per US$1,000 earned.
It’s you: Davis Love chooses Rickie Fowler, J.B Holmes and Matt Kuchar as wildcards for Ryder Cup duty
The points system will conclude following the 2018 PGA Championship with the top eight players on the list securing spots on the US team.
The four remaining slots will be captain’s selections.
Watch: the full Ryder Cup announcement
