Thanks to their finishes at the Valspar Championship, Patrick Reed and Bill Haas made big gains in this week's U.S. Ryder Cup standings.
While the top seven positions stayed the same, Reed moved from ninth to eighth – putting himself in a position to earn one of the eight qualifying positions after tying for seventh. And with his runner-up finish at Innisbrook, Haas took a jump from 15th to ninth.
That pushed Brooks Koepka down two places to 10th, while Jason Dufner dropped to 11th and Kevin Kisner to 12th. However, less than 300 points separate 13th-place J.B. Holmes and Reed.
Outside of the top 12, Ryan Moore (25th to 18th), Charles Howell III (41st to 28th) and Steve Stricker (50th to 35th) propelled themselves up the standings with good finishes.
RYDER CUP: Qualifying process | Events timeline | Outlook: Potential U.S. team | Ryder Cup Shop
Here's a look at the top 12 following the 2016 Valspar Championship (remember, the top eight qualify on points, while U.S. Captain Davis Love III will round out the team with his four Captain's Picks):
1. Jordan Spieth 6,837.080
2. Bubba Watson 3,483.078
3. Dustin Johnson 3,230.782
4. Rickie Fowler 2,856.357
5. Brandt Snedeker 2,820.162
6. Phil Mickelson 2,759.637
7. Zach Johnson 2,693.302
8. Patrick Reed 1,866.221
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9. Bill Haas 1,796.745
10. Brooks Koepka 1,692.007
11. Jason Dufner 1,677.483
12. Kevin Kisner 1,590.964
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 the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
You can read about the entire qualifying process here, but these 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.
