Last year, Ben Griffin became the darling of American golf. A late bloomer who’d given up playing professionally to work as a mortgage loan officer, his second chance not only resulted in reaching the PGA Tour, it turned into one of the more aspirational success stories in recent memory.
During the 2025 season, he won three times and was named to the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Sure, his side lost at Bethpage Black and he only played in two sessions, winning his singles match, but there would surely be more team competitions in the future for a player who at the time was still shy of 30 years old and seemingly still improving at the highest level on a weekly basis.
And maybe there will be. Maybe it’ll even happen this year.
But here’s what we know for sure: Griffin started the season at second on the U.S. Presidents Cup points list, nearly doubled up by Scottie Scheffler, but ahead of every other eligible candidate. By the Florida Swing, he’d dropped to fourth, a spot he held for much of the summer.
Entering last week’s BMW Championship, he was fifth on this list, having been inside the crucial cutoff point of six qualifying positions for at least the past year.
With a T-44 result in the 50-man field, however – his fifth straight tournament without a top-40 – he fell outside the line of demarcation for the first time, as the qualification process ended with Griffin at eighth in the standings, on the outside looking in.
The half-dozen players who automatically made the U.S. roster are Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa.
U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker will soon select six more players, extending from a few no-brainers to some difficult choices. Let’s break down the possibilities.
7. Chris Gotterup
I’ve long believed that captains presiding over these annual teams tend to look too much at the past than the present and future. Or more to the point: They reward those who have played well as opposed to those who can best help the team win for a specific week.
Prior to last year’s Ryder Cup, I argued that the long-hitting Gotterup would’ve been an asset to a team in need of some offensive firepower on a brawny Northeast course which would’ve suited his skillset. He was a two-time winner at that point, but has since added three more titles, making him a veritable lock to be named to this team. At only 79 points shy of Morikawa for the final spot, don’t be surprised if he thrives in the team arena.
8. Ben Griffin
As outlined above, he hasn’t really made a great case for himself here. A season which started slowly began to blossom in late spring, only to flounder during the last two months. If he’d qualified for the Tour Championship, that one final opportunity could be enough to showcase himself, but without another start, it’s tough to believe the player who spent 33 weeks on the right side of qualification will be at Medinah next month.
9. Xander Schauffele
It hasn’t been the greatest of seasons for a player who, at his best, is one of the more talented in the world. Those who want to blow up the U.S. model and start anew with fresh faces will take the contrarian view that Schauffele perhaps shouldn’t be given a spot, but it’s tough to believe Snedeker is among them. He might not be as much of a lock as Gotterup, but Schauffele will undoubtedly be named to this roster.
10. J.J. Spaun
In a year with more intriguing candidates outside the top-12, Spaun would have reason to feel a bit more nervous about his current standing. There are few listed below him, though, who either own his pedigree or have been playing better – which says less about him than them, as Spaun’s 22nd-place finish at last week’s BMW was his best in his last five starts.
11. Justin Thomas
Everything written about Schauffele above probably goes double for Thomas, who for some reason has come to represent the “good buddy” narrative that some fans believe exists within the U.S. team structure. Despite showing signs of breaking through to become a top-level player once again, Thomas has clearly underwhelmed and underperformed over the past few months, failing to post a top-10 since the PGA Championship.
And yet, he remains among the more talented – and certainly experienced – players in this pool. If he chooses, Snedeker could find reasons to leave JT off this team, but again, it’s hard to believe that will actually happen. We’ve seen this story before: Thomas will be named to the squad and observers will pound their fists and stomp their feet over it.
12. Jacob Bridgeman
The likes of Schauffele and Thomas trying to garner a selection will draw the most headlines, but Bridgeman’s candidacy might be the most intriguing from a purely objective perspective. The winner of this year’s Genesis Invitational, he’s been consistent throughout the season and might own the prettiest putting stroke on the PGA Tour these days. What he lacks, though, is that theoretical offensive firepower and experience.
That said, I’ve always believed that captain’s picks should be selected not unlike an NFL team approaches the annual draft – choosing the best player available often isn’t a better strategy than filling a current need. Bridgeman could be a sneaky alternate-shot partner and in the Presidents Cup – unlike the Ryder Cup – there are fewer opportunities to hide players during the first few team sessions, so they’re going to need players to fill some very specific roles.
13. Patrick Cantlay
Other than Clark, nobody helped themselves more at Bellerive than Cantlay, who finished runner-up and moved from 17th to 13th in the standings. It’s truly been the most Cantlay of seasons for one of the game’s more frustrating players: When he’s in contention on the weekends, he tends to fade quickly; when he’s out of contention, he often plays his best golf and backdoors a strong finish.
None of this should inspire confidence – either in him as a pick or as a potentially dominant performer in this competition – but the process of elimination just might leave his name circled rather than crossed off when it’s all said and done. One thing is for sure: After moving into the top-30, he could use another solid result at East Lake to boost his argument.
14. Akshay Bhatia
At his best, Bhatia is a ball-striking savant who can work it both ways like few others and has a short game to match. At his worst, though, he appears rather ordinary on too many occasions, struggling to show consistency on a regular basis.
That should be a red flag for Snedeker, who can’t be assured which Akshay would show up at Medinah, as evidenced by three top-20s in his last six starts, while the other three include two MCs and a DFL in a 68-man field. He will make U.S. teams in the future – maybe lots of ‘em – but it could take a serious title contention at East Lake to make this one.
15. Maverick McNealy
A really nice player who’s more consistent than some of those above him, McNealy just hasn’t quite broken through that ceiling to become one of the 12 best U.S. players yet – or even one who can undoubtedly help a team to victory. It’s tough to make a case for him here.
At this point, let’s simply cherry-pick some players further down the list who could be of value.
21. Gary Woodland
On the same week he was announced as a vice captain for this team, Woodland finished top-five at the BMW and became one of three players to move into the top-30, qualifying for the Tour Championship for the first time in seven years.
A massive fan favorite with a very specific set of skills, the big-hitting Woodland could be an asset for this team, especially in the best-ball format. He might have to recuse himself from the group text amongst those making the decision, but there wouldn’t be many naysayers should it actually happen.
22. Rickie Fowler
After years of being handed captain’s picks, that well has dried up for Fowler.
24. Keegan Bradley
Would’ve been a nice story, but last year’s Ryder Cup captain will be on-site only as assistant, not as a player.
25. Jake Knapp
This one is probably more intriguing than you might think for a guy who finished 25th in the standings. Knapp was one of the PGA Tour’s best players over the first three-and-a-half months of this season, posting seven top-11 results in his first eight starts.
A wrist injury derailed him for a few months, though, and the results were hit and miss upon his return. Even so, he owns a ton of talent and makes a lot of birdies. The guess here is that he doesn’t make the team and might not even be on the final list of candidates, but he probably should be.
29. Michael Thorbjornsen
He won the Rocket Classic last month and was one of five first-round leaders in his next start at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, turning the whispers about his candidacy into a full-blown buzz. He finished T-47, though, in Memphis, followed by a T-37 result in St. Louis.
Simply put, those results weren’t good enough in events which essentially served as potential qualifiers to make this team. The 24-year-old will be on future rosters – perhaps as soon as next year for the Ryder Cup – but without another start, it’s hard to believe he’s done enough to make it.
32. Jordan Spieth
If Snedeker wants to break the Internet – and not in a good way — he should do it.
33. Michael Brennan
Another young player with some recent form and a very specific skillset, but there are just too many other possible picks here.
48. Jackson Koivun
After his victory at the 3M Open, there were those already putting him on this team; however, failure to advance past the first playoff event has put him out of sight and, perhaps, out of mind. It’s easy to suggest that the Presidents Cup should serve as some sort of training ground for young players to gain some team experience to help the U.S. in the Ryder Cup, but that won’t be Snedeker’s view.
He’ll pick Koivun not as a nod toward the future, but only if he believes the 21-year-old gives him a better chance of winning than others on this list. Right now, the educated guess is that his name isn’t called, but I’d be willing to bet that the captain’s text thread has included more conversations about Koivun than any other player on this list.
N/A. Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed
As non-members of the PGA Tour – Reed won’t earn that title until after this season is complete – neither was eligible to accrue points during the season. If either had won another major, this would’ve turned into a very sticky situation, considering the PGA Tour owns and operates the Presidents Cup and wouldn’t be too keen on including players who didn’t ply their craft on this circuit throughout the season.
If we’re still abiding by the idea that a captain should pick players based on whether they can help the team win as opposed to how they fared during the season, it’s hard to argue that these two couldn’t or wouldn’t do just that, but even a small knowledge of the politics involved here tells us it has very little chance of happening.
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