Ryder Cup qualifiers, Bubble Watches, etc.

Check out our writers and editors weekly unfiltered opinions on the sport’s hottest topics and join the conversation by tweeting on @Golf_Com. This week, we talked about the American Ryder Cup Auto-Qualifiers, who may get the captain’s draft pick, Liv’s championship format and more.

Scottie Scheffler won the second leg of the BMW Championship FedEx Cup playoffs, but we also now know six automatic series for the US Ryder Cup team: Scheffler, JJ Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Russell Henley, Bryson Dechambeau and Harris English. What is your biggest gain this week?

Josh Sens, Senior Writer (@Joshsens). We can add items to our life list: Death, Taxes and Scottie Scheffler. But (although Scheffler, Europeans have a stronger automatic qualifier team than the United States. Anyway, on paper.

James Colgan, News and Featured Editor (@jamescolgan26): Except Scheffler 4x-ing his Ryder Cup is in the scoring? I learned that Americans are lucky that Justin Thomas and Collin Morikawa did not surpass German burgers. Bryson has been a lock, and his automatic level condition has quieted his due sexual fatigue news cycle.

Nick Piastowski, Senior Editor (@nickpia): Scottie Scheffler is really, really good. What he showed may last for a while. Robert MacIntyre with Bethpage boys and girls will be fun. (But let’s keep it clean, gang.)

Captain America Keegan Bradley will bring his team together with six captain picks after next week’s tour. This means that the most important thing about East Lake is the Ryder Cup that has hope?

Josh Sens: For me, it was a toss between Cam Young and Ben Griffin. Both have performed well, especially young people recently. Young, in particular, sounds like a man biting, after passing by Rome, now the Ryder Cup has come to his hometown, and his season has won the state.

Corgen: I think it’s Griffin, who is safely in the top 12, but wants to clear up all the questions. But don’t ignore Sam Burns, who woke up in the U.S. rankings on the 16th and benefited from the previous Ryder Cup experience and built a close friendship with Scottie Scheffler to help his candidacy.

Piastowski: This is the captain himself. Entering the top ten, Bradley extricated himself three days later. The end of the 28th, there are still some questions. BMW’s ho-face ending didn’t exactly inspire him to be selected, but it played a strong match at the Tour Championship.

Sam Burns finished the T4 at BMW, while Rickie Fowler completed the T7, although both, in particular, ranked further in the Ryder Cup. But if you are a captain, how do you balance the higher rankings with someone with better recent forms?

Sens: As a decisive game, I will review the historical records. How do they perform in these pressure cookers? Burns scored 1 and 2 in Rome and usually didn’t cut off the killer’s profile. Fowler’s career record of Ryder Cup 3-9-5. In short, I might pass by both of them

Corgen: I think the goal is to choose the twelve best golfers. If the 11th place on your list suddenly fails to break 90, I will consider the recent table. Otherwise, I will be a better test for the past 6 months.

Piastowski: Of course I will take a look – but why divide the list? If you’ve purchased it from here a distance, there’s no need to switch. That is, I might tilt the 11 and 12 pick hands (unless the hot hands are also 11 or 12). Burns also has the benefit of being with the world’s number one close friend, you want that man to be happy.

Joaquin Niemann won five of Liv Golf’s 13 events in 2025, but Jon Rahm won Liv’s season-long solo title on Sunday in the runner-up at Indianapolis. Did your format and Ram win the overall title, or did Neiman prove something wrong despite winning five times?

Sens: That’s not true. The way to prioritize bonuses over continuous performance is not a measure of rewards for a season, but that seems to be the case.

Corgen: I’m going to say that the “playoff” of golf requires some overhaul, mainly because the vast majority of people who read this story don’t understand the PGA Tour or the event at the end of the LIV season. The playoffs shouldn’t require an advanced math degree to understand… Liv’s playoffs may need to be fixed first, given the Ram/Neman difference.

Piastowski: I guess the question is, what do you prefer – top level consistency or mixed with 33rd-digit relationship? I tend to give more points for the win, but Neiman tied for five-fifths this year. Meanwhile, Rahm finished nowhere near 11th, but never won the game. Of course, it’s strange. However, it’s very close.

With the end of LIV’s individual championship, four players will now be relegated to next season. It has been in the Liv format for several years now. Is the downgrade effective? Is it correct or wrong?

Sens: It works theoretically. The downgrade adds a layer of pressure and provides fans with a story that LIV needs to be needed as much as possible. But, in fact, like last year’s Branden Grace, you can take down players who are relegated again. He’s been bad enough to drop by the end of 2024, but he’s very popular to catch up with the 2025 game in time. This is a degradation system without a lot of teeth.

Corgen: Agree, downgrade to idea Very sweet. But I’m not sure we’ve seen it in practice.

Piastowski: Waiting for me. The same was true last year, and the players were back. But if Liv sticks with it, it will make the league more open to stores, which is the goal. It will also be interesting who takes these available positions – it will also be interesting to have any offseason contract negotiations with some of Liv’s biggest stars.

Mason Howell won the American amateur Sunday, beating Jackson Herrington 7 and 6 at Olympic club. It was a vibrant week in San Francisco, titled Howell’s victory, and a run by John Daly II, the appearance of the DIII underdog, noisy crowd (and interviews!). What was your most memorable moment from the United States?

Corgen: Jimmy Abdo!!! The world’s No. 4292-ranked amateur enters the quarterfinals of the biggest amateur competition in the sport. I like a story about the underdog and I’m not sure one I heard in 2025 is better than Abdo’s. Abdo’s has seen him leave his high school travel squad over the past four years, and D1 does not need to offer D1 on the transfer portal. He made many people remember his name in O-Club.

Piastowski: I need to try the burger dog as soon as possible. Just kidding, maybe. Colgan is right about Abdo – this is one of the reasons why amateurs are great. But I like Niall Shiels Donegan Drew and his wild post-interview crowd (which is amazing for Golf Channel’s Brentley Romine). Another attraction for amateurs is the uplift of the event, and that’s certainly that.

Sens: Native hero (and semi-finalist) Niall Shiels-Donegan attracted the crowd all week. Big and noisy. The pure joy Shiels-Donegan showed when he performed a clutch show for them. He didn’t win, but he was the story of this week.

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