USA
Webb Simpson just made a giant step toward his third Ryder Cup team
By T.J. Auclair On May 14, 2018 6:00 UTC
The 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National Paris is quickly approaching.
With roughly three months left for American-born players to collect points, there's still a lot of time for hopefuls to automatically qualify for Ryder Cup USA.
But one thing is for sure when looking at the current standings -- Captain Jim Furyk nailed the point-getting formula he established for 2018. The biggest names and those players who are playing the best are the ones occupying the top spots in the standings.
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We'll frequently be taking a look at the top 10 in the Ryder Cup USA standings and analyzing there current form.
Here's a look at how the top 10 is performing through the Players Championship.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 1
Last week's rank: 1
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: Won the Masters
Ryder Cup appearances: 2 (2014, 2016)
Notes: Captain America is now a Masters champion and a lock to make the 2018 Ryder Cup USA team that he likely would have been a part of regardless of rank, given his history in the matches. Reed's T41 at the Players Championship ended a streak of six consecutive, top-10 finishes on Tour. He is not in the field for this week's Byron Nelson Championship.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 2
Last week's rank: 2
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: Won THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, The Honda Classic
Ryder Cup appearances: 0
Notes: After a so-so start to the Players Championship, the reigning PGA Champion turned it on for the weekend with rounds of 66-68 to finish in a tie for 11th. That, along with Dustin Johnson's inability to finish inside the top 4 at TPC Sawgrass, allowed Thomas to catapult to the No. 1 spot in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time in his career.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 3
Last week's rank: 3
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: Won Sentry Tournament of Champions
Ryder Cup appearances: 3 (2010, 2012, 2016)
Notes: Johnson hasn't missed a cut this season. Five of his eight starts have resulted in top-10 finishes, including the win in Maui and two runner-up finishes. His solid play -- completely under the radar, it seems -- continued at TPC Sawgrass. Johnson fnished in a tie for 17th. For persepctive, that's Johnson's second-worst finish this season in nine starts. That's right -- Johnson has finished in the top 17 in every tournament but one this season. Even still, he begins the week at the No. 2 player in the OWGR for the first time in a long time.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 4
Last week's rank: 4
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: Third at the Masters
Ryder Cup appearances: 2 (2014, 2016)
Notes: A T41 at the Players Championship was nothing to write home about for Spieth, but it was just the second time in his career that he's made the cut at TPC Sawgrass. While he played great rounds on Friday and Saturday -- 68-65, respectively -- Spieth really costs himself with bookend rounds of 75-74. Sunday's 74, in particular, was tough to swallow. He made a quadruple-bogey 8 on the final hole. With a par, he would have instead finished T17. He will be playing in his home-town event this week, the Byron Nelson Championship.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 5
Last week's rank: 5
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: Won the Genesis Open, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play Championship
Ryder Cup appearances: 3 (2010, 2012, 2014)
Notes: Watson made it to the weekend at TPC Sawgrass, but that's about it. He finished the tournament at 4 under for the week and in a tie for 57th. He'll be taking the next week off.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 6
Last week's rank: 6
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: Second at the OHL Classic, the Masters
Ryder Cup appearances: 3 (2010, 2014, 2016)
Notes: Fowler, the 2015 Players Champion, was one-third of the supergroup for the first two rounds at TPC Sawgrass, playing alongside Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. But, on those first two days, none of the three could really get much going. Fowler shot rounds of 74-71 to miss the cut. It was just his third missed cut of the season and his first since February. He will not be in Dallas this week.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 7
Last week's rank: 8
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: T2 WGC-HSBC Champions
Ryder Cup appearances: 1 (2016)
Notes: It's well-documented that Koepka has already missed a lot of time this season due to injury. His Players Championship was a gametime decision when he tweaked his wrist during a practice session at TPC Sawgrass. As the story goes, Koepka jammed his wrist as he tried to stop his swing when a golf cart got a little too close. As it turned out, Koepka was OK and his play was solid. He fired a best of the day, final round 9-under 63, which included an albatross on the par-5 16th hole. It was the only round of the week in which Koepka cracked 70 and it was hs second-best finish of the season behind only his T2 at the WGC-HSBC Shampions. With that, Koepka jumped over Phil Mickelson to reclaim the No. 7 spot in this week's ranking. He will not be at the Byron Nelson.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 8
Last week's rank: 7
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: Won WGC-Mexico Championship
Ryder Cup appearances: 11 (1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016)
Notes: Most of the talk about Mickelson at TPC Sawgrass centered around his attire instead of his game. Mickelson turned some heads with his button-down, long-sleeved, dress shirt from Mizzen+Main, but left much to be desired on the course. He made a quick exit with rounds of 79-73. It was only his second missed cut of the season, so there's really nothing to be all that concerned about. Bad weeks are going to happen and you can get sideways in a hurry on any Pete Dye-designed course -- let alone the one many consider to be Dye's toughest.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 9
Last week's rank: 23
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: Won the Players Championship
Ryder Cup appearances: 2 (2012, 2014)
Notes: Simpson has been enjoying a nice season. Before the Players, he had four top-10 finishes to his credit, but hasn't truly sniffed a victory. But at TPC Sawgrass, the 2012 U.S. Open Champion -- who hadn't won in four seasons -- went off. Simpson played lights-out golf the first three days with scores of 68-63-66 to establish a seven-stroke lead through 54 holes. Even with a 1-over 73 on Sunday, Simpson still managed to win the tournament by four strokes. With the victory, he made a huge Ryder Cup move, jumping 14 spots from No. 23 to No. 9. Just like that, he went from borderline to very much in the Ryder Cup USA team conversation.
Current Ryder Cup rank: 10
Last week's rank: 9
Best PGA Tour finish in 2018: T8 Houston Open
Ryder Cup appearances: 4 (2010, 2012, 2014, 2016)
Notes: A former Players champion, Kuchar had another solid week at TPC Sawgrass, finishing T17. But because of Simpson's victory, Kuchar got bumped down one spot in the latest standings. He is in the field for this week's Byron Nelson Championship.