Bryson DeChambeau Was Right. He Should Have Been Called Prior To Ryder Cup Snub

Bryson DeChambeau's Major season wasn't quite good enough to make the Ryder Cup team, with Zach Johnson going more down the PGA Tour route with his wildcard picks - barring PGA Champion Brooks Koepka of course who had a win and a runner-up.

The Golfing Scientist's best results were a T4th at the PGA Championship and a respectable T20 at the US Open, but without the possibility of earning Ryder Cup points via the PGA Tour, he ended the qualification period well down the list.

Zach Johnson ignored Bryson as well as fellow LIV Golfer Dustin Johnson, both of whom were integral members of Team USA's record breaking team at Whistling Straits last time out.

DJ went 5/5 in Wisconsin, while DeChambeau won 2.5 points out of three matches, partnering Scottie Scheffler to 1.5 points from their two four ball games before taking down Ryder Cup record points scorer Sergio Garcia in the singles.

DeChambeau has re-found his form over the recent months, notably shooting 61-58 over the final two rounds to win the LIV Golf Greenbrier event. He then shot a final round 63 to win in Chicago this past weekend, where he opened up on not receiving a call from the US captain.

“I am playing better than Winged Foot [2020 US Open win]," he said. "If you look at it, it would have been nice to at least just have a call.

“There's numerous people that I think Zach should have called out here, and we didn't get that. I understand, I get it, but we're nothing different. We're still competing. We're still working super hard to be the best we possibly can be.

“Brooks is obviously going to kill it for Team USA next week and excited for the team, but yeah, it definitely does sting a little bit, but say what you want, we're still golfers, and I personally think that given the way I played this week, I could have definitely racked up some points for Team USA.

“But that's neither here nor there. As time has gone on, hopefully I'll be in line for it in a couple years. It would have been nice for them to consider us more because we're pretty damn good out here.”

DeChambeau is right, he should have received a call. Zach Johnson said he called everyone up to the 22-25 mark on the points list, with Bryson well down in 54th.

Considering he shot 58 to win at The Greenbrier just over three weeks before the wildcard picks, it's not the best of looks from the US captain completely ignoring a man who won 2.5 out of three points just two years ago. Not even calling Dustin Johnson is also a bizarre one. 

Not choosing them as wildcards is understandable due to the sheer quality of the US side. They might have had great Ryder Cups this week in Rome and contributed points to the US side, but Keegan Bradley, Lucas Glover and other close contenders could also make that claim.

However, not even giving them the courtesy of a phone call - two Major champions who contributed 7.5 points to a record win just two years ago - isn't Zach Johnson's best decision.

Why does it matter?

On the face of it, Johnson not calling DeChambeau could be seen as not a big deal. It certainly illustrates the rift between the establishment (ie PGA Tour, PGA of America (which runs Ryder Cup USA)) and LIV Golf but Bryson may well have a role to play in Team USA in the future.

With the 'merger', or the coming together of the PIF and PGA Tour, it's likely that we may see unity in the game again and the Ryder Cup will be more open to the LIV players.

DeChambeau is still just 30 and has plenty of Ryder Cups in him, you'd think, if he can play anywhere near his best over the next decade. Cohesion is key in Ryder Cups, and not even calling two players who scored 7.5 points last time out isn't the best for future team rooms if they go on to return.

If Team USA loses this week in Rome, completely ignoring both DeChambeau and Johnson could come back to bite the US captain.