PGA Of America Quietly Asking About Ryder Cup And COVID Vaccine?

The delayed 2020 Ryder Cup is set to go up in Wisconsin at Whistling Straits in just 44 short days and the PGA Of America may have to curb its enthusiasm, so to speak.

The second round of COVID is making its ugly path around the nation and last May the PGA Of America, which owns the Ryder Cup along with the European Tour, was touting/promising a “Full Ryder Cup experience” which means a heckuva lot of fans screaming their patriotic heads off in the grandstands.

Then came Bryson DeChambeau declaring he won’t take a COVID vaccine shot.  Quietly, the PGA Of America is trying to find out behind the scenes, how many potential U.S. players have been vaccinated and it might serve well if the European Tour was doing the same thing.  Unvaccinated players would make for awkward situations in the team rooms where there is a lot of close comradery.

The PGA Tour recently said that vaccinated members make up about 70 percent of its players.

The State of Wisconsin wants this event and wants it to be a success.  What the actual “Full Experience” turns out to be remains to be seen.

As for the teams, right now, the U.S. team points look like this:

1. Collin Morikawa
2. Dustin Johnson
3. Bryson DeChambeau
4. Brooks Koepka
5. Justin Thomas
6. Xander Schauffele
7. Jordan Spieth
8. Harris English
9. Patrick Reed
10. Daniel Berger
11. Patrick Cantlay
12. Tony Finau

The top six on that list automatically qualify which means the unvaccinated DeChambeau will be on the team.

The European Team points list looks like this:

1. Jon Rahm / Jon Rahm
2. Tommy Fleetwood / Rory McIlroy
3. Tyrrell Hatton / Viktor Hovland
4. Rory McIlroy / Paul Casey
5. Matt Fitzpatrick / Tyrrell Hatton
6. Paul Casey / Matt Fitzpatrick
7. Bernd Wiesberger / Lee Westwood
8. Victor Perez / Tommy Fleetwood
9. Robert MacIntyre / Shane Lowry
10. Guido Migliozzi / Victor Perez
11. Thomas Detry / Robert MacIntyre
12. Viktor Hovland / Ian Poulter

There are two sets of names listed because Europe has automatic spots for the top four in Team Points and the Top Five in World Points.

There are still points available to both sides in this week’s Wyndham Championship and the three FedEx Cup playoff events.

The teams are taking shape and selections will be made by U.S. captain Steve Stricker and European leader Paddy Harrington after the playoffs conclude.

Women’s Scottish Open Begins At Dumbarnie Links:

Many of the stars of the LPGA Tour might feel some travel fatigue this week as they took off straight from the Tokyo Olympics and traveled to Scotland for this week’s Scottish Open at Dumbarnie Links.

The only medalist from Tokyo in the field is Bronze-winner Lydia Ko, winner of the Silver Medal in 2016.  American stars Nelly and Jessica Korda, Danielle Kang and Lexi Thompson are not in the field.

This week is a tune-up for the women’s final major next week — the Open — which will be played a famed Carnoustie.

Defending Open champion Sophia Popov is in this week’s field as is India’s Aditi Ashok, who finished just off the medal podium last week, taking fourth in the Olympics.

European Tour Heads To London:

What?  Another Cazoo event?  This week is the final event in the U.K. swing and Cazoo is sponsoring yet another tournament.  It was the sponsor at last month’s Cazoo event at Celtic Manor, won by Nacho Elvira and is staging the Cazoo Classic this week at the London Golf Club.

What is Cazoo?  It is the largest on-line car retailer in the U.K.

The London Golf Club has two courses — the Heritage and the International.  The field will play the Heritage, a Jack Nicklaus design with a lot of tree and water.

Not a lot of name players in this field.  Many of the stars were at last week’s WGC event and players like Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy spend most of their time on the PGA Tour.