CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley hosted a dinner in Philadelphia last week for prospective players high on the points list. Most of them were in the field for the Truist Championship. Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau were not.
Both players from Saudi-funded LIV Golf were invited to Philadelphia to join the informal dinner. DeChambeau’s flight was delayed by weather, and he joined remotely. But it was another strong indication Bradley cares only about fielding the best team.
“They were in there on points and they played on previous teams. It was great to have them there,” Bradley said Tuesday. “This Ryder Cup and what comes with this, no one cares about what’s going on in this PGA Tour-LIV. We’re trying to put the best team together. It could mean there’s one LIV guy, two LIV guys, it doesn’t matter. We’ll see how this year shakes out.
“It was really great to have them together with all the guys,” he said. “It’s been a while since we’ve been able to do that.”
Koepka played in the 2023 matches at Marco Simone, while DeChambeau played in 2021.
“Look, I’ve got to keep playing good golf and ... hopefully I can make it on points alone,” DeChambeau said.
He and Koepka can only earn points in the majors.
Jon Rahm, meanwhile, can earn points for the European team through the majors and European tour events he chooses to play. Rahm had not yet joined LIV Golf when Europe beat the Americans in Italy with Luke Donald as the captain.
He would seem to be a lock for Europe.
“That’s a question for Luke,” Rahm said. “It’s his team. Hopefully I can qualify, and we don’t have to question it. I would like to think that personally I am, but it’s not up to me.”
Justin Thomas is back at Quail Hollow, where he won his first PGA Championship. He learned on Tuesday he will be going back to where he won his second Wanamaker Trophy.
The PGA Championship is returning to Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 2032.
It will be the sixth time Southern Hills has held the PGA, the most of any course, to go along with three U.S. Opens. The Perry Maxwell design — restored by Gil Hanse for the 2022 PGA Championship — has proven a strong test over the years.
Only 45 players in eight major championships at Southern Hills have finished under par.
Thomas tied a PGA Championship record in 2022 when he rallied from seven shots behind in the final round — including a shank on the par-3 sixth hole — and drove the par-4 17th green during a three-hole playoff he won over Will Zalatoris.
Other PGA champions at Southern Hills were Tiger Woods (2007), Nick Price (1994), Raymond Floyd (1982) and Dave Stockton (1970). All but Stockton are in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
While it’s a tradition that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as the Masters Club dinner at Augusta National, the PGA Championship also has a dinner for past champions.
Defending champion Xander Schauffele was in charge of Tuesday night's menu, which was set to include smoked goat cheese dates, pickled watermelon, clams casino shooters and steak and bleu cheese crostini as appetizers. The main course was Wagyu New York strip steak, served with blackened jumbo shrimp, whipped sweet potatoes and a bourbon bone marrow reduction. Banana split and strawberry shortcake were for dessert.
Schauffele placed full trust in the chefs at Quail Hollow while choosing the menu, saying they haven't let him down in his previous trips to Charlotte.
“The only thing I said was sort of steak,” Schauffele said. “I saw a lot of bleu cheese on there. I think we’re kind of tweaking it a little bit, from the last of my knowledge, or making it a little bit more customized; you can have some on or not because it’s sort of a really strong, you either like it or you don’t thing.”
As part of the tradition, Schauffele planned to give his fellow past PGA champions cigars and a humidor.
“The cigars I had input on,” Schauffele said.
Jon Rahm would love nothing more than to get a career Grand Slam. He’s still two majors away — the PGA Championship and the British Open. Until he gets the third leg, his mind is more occupied with total majors instead of the collection of all four.
“I think obviously it would be a lot more on my mind if I were to win a third different one, kind of like Jordan (Spieth) has been able to do,” Rahm said. “But right now, if I ever had a thought, I’ll focus more on quantity of majors rather than which ones.
“Let’s say I never achieve it,” he said. “I’d rather have a situation like Sir Nick Faldo where he has six of two of them instead of having maybe three different ones, if that makes sense.”
Faldo won the Masters and the British Open three times each. He has the most majors of anyone who has two legs of the Grand Slam in the last 100 years.
Xander Schauffele, who won the PGA Championship and British Open last year, is on the same page.
“If I win another double major, the Open and the PGA, I’m not going to cry about it,” he said. “I’m trying to win as many as possible. The Grand Slam is obviously on the list of goals. But I’m not picky.”
Scottie Scheffler thought it was “wild” that Rory McIlroy could win the Grand Slam with five majors. Tiger Woods, however, completed the slam by winning one of each (and then 11 more), as did Gary Player, who finished with nine majors.
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AP Sports Writer Steve Reed contributed to this report.
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