By Ron Green Jr. of Global Golf Post

The U.S. Ryder Cup team is two-thirds complete with eight automatic qualifiers locking down their positions on the American team that will try to end a 25-year drought on opposing ground at Le Golf National outside Paris.

The eight qualifiers are Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Webb Simpson.

No player outside the top eight moved into one of the automatic spots with their performance at the PGA Championship, where Simpson maintained his hold on the eighth spot with a T19 finish.

Captain Jim Furyk will have three weeks before he selects three of his remaining four players. Furyk is scheduled to announce those three players after the Dell Technologies Championship, which concludes Sept. 3, with his final pick being made after the BMW Championship, which ends six days later.

With his second-place finish at Bellerive Country Club on Sunday, Tiger Woods further enhanced his chances of appearing as a player on the U.S. squad. Woods, already a vice-captain, is considered a lock to be chosen by Furyk, along with Phil Mickelson.

“I’m just very pleased at what I’ve done so far and now to be a part of the Ryder Cup conversation, going from I’ve where I’ve come from to now in the last year, it’s been pretty cool,” Woods said.

If Woods and Mickelson are considered likely additions to Furyk’s ream, the attention will focus on the two remaining spots. A handful of players – Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau, Kevin Kisner, Xander Schauffele and Matt Kuchar among them – are expected to factor into Furyk’s consideration.

Republished with permission from Global Golf Post