A tale of two captains: Luke Donald is sailing smoothly while Zach Johnson has tough decisions on the horizon

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Last week, European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald spoke about clarity; Five days later, US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson saw only blurry images and distorted shapes.

For Donald, his clarity is the result of DP World Tours’ decision to actually fine players on the tour and this year’s Ryder Cup team. The European circuit didn’t hand out broad suspensions for players who broke conflicting event exit rules when they joined LIV Golf, but following a favorable ruling from an arbiter in the United Kingdom, it gave heavy fines that keep membership , somehow, hard to justify.

According to various sources, LIV Golf has agreed to pay those fines, but in one case, a player who joined the breakaway circuit last year is on the hook for nearly 500,000 and counting. . Last week, Henrik Stenson resigned his DP World Tour membership, having to play on the European Ryder Cup team, and others are sure to follow.

It was this clarity, for better or worse, that made Donalds job easier.

Johnsons gig, however, became more complicated on Sunday due to Brooks Koepkas victory at the PGA Championship. Although the US captain won’t admit it, the best-case scenario is for Koepka to perform equally well at the US Open and Open Championship to lock up his spot in the Rome draw.

The victory moved Koepka to second on the US points list, and the math was on his side as he stayed inside the top 6 through the BMW Championship in August to secure one of the six automatic qualifying spots. That, at the very least, would take any potential decision-making out of Johnson’s hands, as the PGA of America has ruled that any player who maintains membership in the association, which Koepka and others have done player who joins LIV Golf, is eligible for the team.

Although he was referring to the ongoing debate between LIV Golf and the world golf rankings, PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh appeared to agree last week at Oak Hill, This is not an us versus them, he said.

Certainly not the players who seem locked into an us-versus-them mentality. There wasn’t any anger or vitriol between the two sides at the Masters, and that vibe only hardened at the PGA Championship.

Keegan Bradley gushed about being able to reunite with good friend Brendan Steele at Oak Hill, and Jon Rahm appeared to speak for many on the subject: I’ve never been in a fight. I have never had any negative feelings towards any player that has come to LIV.”

Last week, when late players Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Jones were officially dropped from the antitrust lawsuit filed against the Tour, much of the antipathy went with it. It’s no longer personal between players on either side; now it’s a complicated antitrust battle between two corporate behemoths that will likely take years to litigate.

Although Johnson did his best to stay out of the fray on Sunday, as Koepka marched to victory, he acknowledged that any player who automatically qualifies for the US team would be a welcome member of what he calls a leadership council. .

[If Koepka’s] on the team, he has direct ownership there, really, Johnson said.

In the twisted reality of the moment, the bigger headache for Johnson would be a scenario where Koepka finishes just outside the top 6. Will the captain and his leadership council look beyond the politics of the day and focused only on the good of the team? What if that meant picking a non-PGA Tour player?

Johnson was clearly distant when asked about the scenario, but if the world No. 1 Scottie Schefflers following his final round at Oak Hill, the players were more than willing to put politics aside for a chance to do something that had never been done before. done in 30 years: win a Ryder Cup abroad.

I want to win the Ryder Cup. I don’t care about tours or anything. I want to win the Ryder Cup, said Scheffler. Something we talked about last year when we finished or I guess a year and a half ago now. We want to beat those guys in Europe. It’s been a long time since we couldn’t beat them.

Who are the best 12 men to form a complete team, it is different from individual tournaments. We want a group of guys that are going to go there together to bring the cup back, and that’s all I really care about.

With two more majors coming up, which award double points, Johnson’s headache over Koepka may not stop. For the second straight major, three of the last top-10 finishers are playing on the LIV Golf tour, and both Bryson DeChambeau (No. 42 on the US points list) and Dustin Johnson (No. 37) are it can be as easy as complicated to talk the way Koepka has.

Donald may be missing key pieces in his team namely Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey and Ian Poulter, not to mention Stenson, the ousted captain of the Europeans but at least he won’t have to contend with the once-in- a generation of choices Johnson made seemed certain to face.

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