ROCHESTER, NY – The US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson he still has more than three months to choose the players who will be among his captain’s six choices for the game away to Rome in September, but he has a good idea of ​​what he wants.

The top six players in the Ryder Cup standings after the BMW Championship on August 17-20 will only qualify for the US team. The team will be announced the following week after the final round of the Tour Championship.

The Americans will try to end a 30-year drought on European soil at the Ryder Cup, which is scheduled for Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club outside Rome.

“I want the camaraderie and the chemistry in the clubroom,” Johnson said during a press conference at the PGA Championship at Oak Hill Country Club on Wednesday. “I want ownership of the team. I think it is more true than here. I want training horses. I want guys who can walk with Marco Simone in September, and caddies because they are gems. There are many things.”

Scottie Scheffler, Max Homa, Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Kantlay he is currently in the sixth category.

Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Will Zalatoris he’ll take the top 10 in points, but Zalatoris will miss the rest of the season after back surgery and won’t play in the Ryder Cup. Tony Finauwho has 13 points, may be playing his way into the team after winning four times on the PGA Tour since July.

Wyndham Clark, Kurt Kitayama, Chris Kirk, Harris English, Sahith Theegala, Keegan Bradley, Rickie Fowler and others may follow in their footsteps.

Johnson was asked specifically about Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, who left the PGA Tour to play in the LIV Golf League. Zach Johnson said it was difficult for him to see their form because he had never seen them play in person.

“I don’t travel anywhere but the PGA Tour and the big guys,” Zach Johnson said. “I don’t know. I haven’t gotten to the numbers and the amount of data and that kind of thing, so it’s not good for me to say that’s the only measure. But I’m in the golf club. I know what’s going on. I’m not ignoring things. The way I look at it is anybody who wants to make the US Ryder Cup team. try to make 6. But it seems, you have to play well and go to this team.”

Dustin Johnson, the 37th ranked player on the US team, won 5-0 in the former American 19-9 European championship at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

A two-time major winner with a 24-year career on the PGA Tour, Johnson was LIV Golf’s individual champion in its inaugural season in 2022. He also he got his first win of 2023 at the LIV Golf Tournament last week in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He tied for 48 at the Masters.

“It’s very difficult for me to judge,” Zach Johnson said of Dustin Johnson’s chances. “Again, I don’t know the golf course he’s playing. I’ve never seen it. I’ve never been there myself. You’re talking about someone whose CV is so deep and wide. He’s my generation. One of the best players I’ve played against, but it’s not good for me to speculate. his real form or his real form I cannot see.”

Dustin Johnson said he wants to play in the Ryder Cup, despite the ongoing dispute between the LIV Golf League and the PGA Tour.

“I don’t know if I can choose,” he said. “Obviously, if I keep playing really well throughout the year, then obviously there’s a chance. Yeah, I’d love to play in the Ryder Cup. It’s one of my favorite events to play in, especially after the Ryder Cup. Obviously we had a great week. And, yeah , it is an interesting event; and yes, I would like to be part of it.”

Koepka, who has been plagued by knee injuries for the past two years, is tied for second at the Masters, 4 strokes behind the winner. Jon Rahm. Koepka has a record of 6-5-1 in three US Ryder Cup tournaments.

“I haven’t seen where he is since Augusta,” Zach Johnson said. “He played really well one week, but it’s one week. I don’t want to sit here and say it’s concrete, that’s the only thing we’re going to be looking at. It’s one week, at a big place. At the Masters tournament. He played very well. But there’s a lot of golf. from now until now.”

Zach Johnson spoke with Koepka for a few minutes on the putting green at Oak Hill on Wednesday.

“It would be great to represent the United States,” Koepka said. “Every time we do it, it’s always fun. But I don’t focus on that. It’s not, like, my first thought when I’m going to play well this week. If I do my job out here, everything will take care of itself. If you win, go again, first. , first of all, it would be hard not to decide, wouldn’t it?

The manager of the US team said on Wednesday that the PGA of America has given him permission to take his team on a trip to the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in mid-August. Johnson said he told potential team members that making the trip was important.

“I’m taking the 12 guys who made my team to Rome 2½ weeks before, to stand on the pitch, to meet Marco Simone,” Johnson said. “So when we go away and come home for two weeks, they’ll have a better idea of ​​what’s needed. I think that helps. I think that trip will be important.”