Ever since Brooks Koepka won the PGA Championship at Oak Hill in May, his presence on the Ryder Cup team has been a hot topic.
“I think it’s premature and almost irresponsible to go that far,” Johnson said in his pre-PGA Championship press conference. “It’s not on my radar right now.”
The Ryder Cup is undoubtedly on Johnson’s radar now, as he has about 10 days to finalize his team of 12 golfers who will represent the American side in Italy next month.
One of those golfers is likely to be Koepka, who is ranked 5th in the American Ryder Cup standings heading into the BMW Championship.
He is the only LIV player in the top six of the Team USA standings. The top six players automatically qualify for the team.
Anyway, Johnson sent a message to LIV Golfers while appearing on the GOLF.com ‘Subpar’ podcast.
“There wasn’t a lot of communication,” Johnson told hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz.
“I’ll be completely transparent. It’s hard because I can’t witness what they do and see their form, except for four events a year. What Brooks has done this year, no one is surprised. I’m just happy that he is healthy.”
Koepka returned with a vengeance in 2023, as he finished second at The Masters and then won his fifth major in Rochester.
He played the part of a five-time major champion at Augusta National and Oak Hill and has the game to represent Team USA in Italy.
However, it seems Johnson will err on the side of caution when dealing with LIV players. Based on his comments, it looks like Koepka is the only LIV player being considered.
Additionally, Koepka could drop out of the top six after the weekend—very possible, considering Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, and Jordan Spieth are lurking behind him in the standings and in the field at the BMW Championship. .
If that happens, Johnson will have to use one of his six captain picks on Koepka. Brandel Chamblee won’t do that, and it looks like Johnson is leaning in that direction as well.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko for more golf coverage. Be sure to check @_PlayingThrough too.