The Ryder Cup announced that Dustin Johnson has qualified for the 43rd Ryder Cup, joining Collin Morikawa as locks for Team USA.
This will be DJ’s fifth career Ryder Cup appearance – only missing the 2014 matches in Scotland – since his rookie campaign in 2010 at Celtic Manor in Wales.
Johnson racked up most of his Ryder Cup points during a four-month stretch from August to November 2020 where he made eight starts and posted six top-3 finishes, including two wins, highlighted by a record-setting victory at the 2020 Masters.
Since late February, however, the former world No. 1 hasn’t been himself, posting just three top-10s (T10, T10, T8) in his last 12 starts. Two of those top-10s, however, have come in is last three starts.
Potential Partnerships
According to Jay Coffin at RyderCup.com, “Johnson has only partnered with five different players in his previous four Ryder Cup appearances. Of those five, Jim Furyk, Matt Kuchar and Rickie Fowler will not be on this team. That leaves Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson as potential partners, although it wouldn’t be a surprise if he doesn’t play with either.”
Despite winning the PGA Championship, Mickelson is still a long shot to make the team. Even if Mickelson were to be selected, at 51, it would most likely be his final appearance and so the thinking is it’d be better to find DJ a partner for the next several editions.
As for a DJ-Koepka tandem, that seems even more doubtful.
The most likely candidates would be Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau.
