After a quiet week last week, this week's points update saw a lot of movement from the top to the bottom of the roster.
The biggest news comes from the top of the leaderboard. After wins at the U.S. Open and the WGC Bridgestone Invitational, Dustin Johnson has taken over the top spot in the rankings, a place that many thought was unreachable after Jordan Spieth's strong start to the year.
Both Johnson and Spieth have officially clinched berths on the Ryder Cup team with the amount of points they've already accumulated.
The only newcomer to the top eight was Matt Kuchar, who moved into the seventh position and bumped Rickie Fowler outside the current cut line. Patrick Reed's 52nd place showing at this week's WGC Bridgestone Invitational saw him drop another spot to No. 10.
Scott Piercy was this week's biggest mover after continuing his strong play. His runner-up finishes at the U.S. Open and this week at Firestone have him vaulting up the board to No. 11 from No. 18 last week.
Since the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minn., will be played in an Olympic year (with golf included in the Games for the first time since 1904), there have been some adjustments made to the qualifying calendar for Ryder Cup USA.
Here are the key qualifying dates:
- Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016: The top eight will be finalized at the conclusion of The Barclays, which is scheduled to finish on this date, as opposed to the traditional closing of points at the conclusion of the PGA Championship, which will be played in July instead of August in 2016 due to the Olympics. It also affords players an additional two weeks from past years to earn a spot on points.
- Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016: Love will select three of his four Captain's Picks at the conclusion of the BMW Championship, scheduled to end on this day.
- Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016: Love will make his fourth and final Captain's Pick at the conclusion of the Tour Championship, scheduled to end on this day.
