After playing in six Ryder Cups, Jack Nicklaus twice captained the United States team.
Nicklaus, however, had no problem picking players from a league that began as a bitter competitor to the PGA Tour — and could partner with the Tour in the future after the surprise announcement in June that the two leagues have a framework merger agreement. .
But current US captain Zach Johnson is in that position this summer with LIV Golf, which kicks off in 2022 as a rival and antagonist to the PGA Tour. Johnson ultimately decided that an LIV player, Jupiter’s Brooks Koepka, was worthy of joining the US team, despite an LIV roster that included many others with Ryder Cup experience.
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Nicklaus agreed with Johnson’s decision.
“I think he deserves to be on the team,” Nicklaus, the 83-year-old Hall of Famer from North Palm Beach told the Palm Beach Post.
“Yes, no question. He played very well. He played very well in very important tournaments. He lost in the last tournament for an automatic place, but he still deserves to be selected.”
Koepka was one of six golfers added by Johnson to complete the 12-man team after narrowly missing out on one of the six automatic spots. He will be included in the team that will compete in Europe Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome based on his play in the majors.
Koepka was runner-up at the Masters in April before winning the PGA Championship a month later. He also finished T17 at the US Open. The PGA victory in Rochester, New York, was Koepka’s fifth major, more than any player on the US or European teams.
“He’s built, I think, for the biggest stage and there’s no bigger stage than the Ryder Cup,” Johnson said the day he announced the selection. “His record shows that. His teammates like him.”
Koepka climbed to No. 2 on the Ryder Cup points list after winning the PGA, but fell out of the top six automatic spots in the final week. He will be playing in his fourth Ryder Cup.
Four months ago, Nicklaus said he no longer “considers the men part of the game” when asked about LIV players. Now, he believes Koepka deserves to represent the country in the Ryder Cup, but no one else from LIV Golf.
“I don’t think anyone else (from LIV) deserves to be singled out,” he said.
No one else came close to making the team, including Jupiter’s Dustin Johnson, who played on five Ryder Cup teams, and two years ago at Whistling Straits, became the first American to go 5-0 in a competition at Ryder Cup in 42 years.
Koepka joins LIV golf in the summer of 2022. Playing in the league not only limits Koepka’s chances of earning Ryder Cup points, but PGA Tour players who have turned away from the tour funded by Saudi Arabia are considered in most sell-outs who sacrificed loyalty and heritage for money, and became accomplices in the Kingdom’s attempts to “wash sports” in terrible violations of human rights.