Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau sew up US Ryder Cup spots
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Bryson DeChambeau of Crushers GC standing on the 11th green during the final round of LIV Golf Indianapolis on Aug 17.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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OWINGS MILLS – Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau received the final three automatic qualifying spots on the US Ryder Cup team, following the BMW Championship on Aug 17.
The top six Americans in qualifying points following the BMW are guaranteed spots on the team who will battle Team Europe at Bethpage Black in September.
Henley tied for 15th at the BMW to remain in fourth in the US points standings, and English tied for 12th to move into fifth.
DeChambeau did not receive qualifying points from LIV Golf, but thanks to his finishes at recent Major championships, he still had enough to remain in the top six.
They join Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun and Xander Schauffele, who were mathematically locked into the 12-man team before Aug 17.
Schauffele won two Majors in 2024, Spaun broke through at the US Open in June and Scheffler has collected three Majors in this two-year cycle amid his dominant run as the world’s best golfer.
Henley, 36, has five PGA Tour victories, including at the 2025 Arnold Palmer Invitational. He competed at the 2024 Presidents Cup, but this will mark his first Ryder Cup appearance.
English, 36, likewise has five PGA Tour titles and won the Farmers Insurance Open in January.
English tied for second at the PGA Championship and was the runner-up to Scheffler at the British Open. He played for the victorious US Ryder Cup team in 2021 but did not make the team who lost to Europe in 2023.
DeChambeau, 31, is one of the best players on the LIV circuit and won his second Major title at the 2024 US Open.
He earned plenty of points with three top-10s at Majors in 2025, including T2 at the PGA Championship. This will be his third Ryder Cup.
Other contenders who came up short of an automatic spot included Justin Thomas, who entered the week at No. 7; Collin Morikawa, who was No. 8; and No. 10 Maverick McNealy, who could have leapfrogged DeChambeau in points if he won the BMW Championship.
McNealy came close, but finished the event third.
All eyes turn to Keegan Bradley, who will announce six captain’s picks on Aug 27.
Thomas and Morikawa are virtually guaranteed spots; others with an argument include Ryder Cup veterans Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns and Rickie Fowler, and in-form youngsters Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup.
Young and Gotterup won on tour this summer and Young finished 11th at the BMW.
Of course, Bradley, who won the 2011 PGA Championship, also has the ability to choose himself and become the first playing captain at the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963.
He was controversially left off the roster in 2023 before Zach Johnson’s US team were flattened by Team Europe in Rome.
Bradley was No. 11 in the Ryder Cup qualifying standings at the end of the week. The 39-year-old tied for 17th at the BMW.
Team Europe have one more week before the top six players in the continent’s standings automatically qualify.
European players can earn points at the British Masters on the DP World Tour, but not at the Tour Championship.
Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Justin Rose (England) and Tommy Fleetwood (England) had clinched their spots on the team before this week, and Robert MacIntyre (Scotland), with his runner-up finish at the BMW, and Tyrell Hatton (England) have also confirmed places. REUTERS
