The US captain will be able to pick half of his team this year due to Covid-19 wreaking havoc on the qualification period
Steve Stricker To Pick Six Wildcards For 2020 USA Ryder Cup Team
There has been a huge development in terms of the Ryder Cup today with the announcement that USA captain Steve Stricker will have six wildcard picks for his 2020 team.
Due to Covid-19, the qualification process has been completely thrown up in the air and Stricker will now be able to pick half of his team.
Qualification will end after the BMW Championship, the second event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, ending 30th August.
Interestingly, the US Open, which takes place the week prior to the Ryder Cup, will have no impact on the team as it will have already been decided by then.
This news appears to boost the chances of the Ryder Cup going ahead, which looked likely to be postponed after Stricker last week said it would be "a crime" against the Wisconsin fans if crowds were not allowed.
The chances of it going ahead with fans now seems much more likely after this public announcement, especially after the PGA Tour announced that fans will return on-site at the Memorial Tournament next month.
If organisers knew the event was going to postponed, it would seem unlikely that they would make such an announcement.
As it stands, American players have been earning points this year as well as in 2019 during the Majors and WGCs.
The top six on the standings currently are: Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Gary Woodland, Xander Schauffele and Webb Simpson.
Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas have been bumped out of the top eight, with the USA previously having eight automatic qualifiers and four wildcards.
It remains to be seen how the European Tour respond to this, after Padraig Harrington told Golf Monthly that "mathematical models" are in place for picking the team for any eventuality.
The European Tour has to wait another six weeks until it restarts so the qualification process will need some major tinkering.
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