Play next year counts.
Play this year doesn’t. But previously it had under the U.S. Ryder Cup team’s qualification system, and the elimination of it, announced Wednesday, represents a significant change for the Americans, who, next year, will be looking to win the Cup on European turf for the first time since 1993.
“I have worked diligently with our team and am pleased to implement a new qualifying process for the 2027 U.S. Ryder Cup Team,” U.S. captain Jim Furyk said in a release from the PGA of America.
“We possess an exceptional mix of veterans and rising stars, and this system will help us identify the strongest players in September 2027.”
Not changing will be the number of captain’s picks — Furyk will make six of those during the week of Aug. 30. But the United States’ other six players will be determined under a qualification system that starts with the PGA Tour’s American Express tournament, which runs from Jan. 21-24, and ends with the Tour’s BMW Championship, set for Aug. 19-22. In all, points will be awarded at 31 events.
Below is a breakdown of what winners will earn under the 2027 qualifying system (players making the cut and finishing the tournament will also receive points and that breakdown can be found here):
– Major championships: 3,000 points
– Players Championship: 2,850 points
– PGA Tour Signature and playoff events: 2,250 points
– 2027 PGA Tour events: 1,500 points (For the Zurich Classic, a team event, partners must be U.S. team eligible; opposite-field events will not award points.)
At recent Ryder Cups, U.S. players had earned points through money earned at that year’s tournaments, along with money earned at the previous year’s marquee events; last year, for example, Americans were rewarded for play at the 2024 majors and Players Championship. Why the change? This places an emphasis on just the form over the eight months of a Ryder Cup year. Why the move away from money earned? In May at the PGA Championship, Furyk told reporters that because money in golf had changed over the past five years, “we really need to take a look at kind of a fair assessment of how to identify some simulations.”
The release also said that points ranking doesn’t guarantee selection and that players must meet eligibility requirements for the event to be played Sept. 17-19, 2027 in Adare Manor in Ireland. The European selection system started two weeks ago.
“As I have said from the outset,” Furyk said in the release, “this role was very appealing to me because I love the passion, camaraderie and deep sense of brotherhood among this group of American players. I am excited for qualification to begin in January and to watch them compete at the highest level for a spot on our team.”
The post Facing 33-year road drought, U.S. Ryder Cup team overhauls qualifying appeared first on Golf.
