Morikawa, Johnson grab Ryder Cup spots
New York, Thursday
Two-time major champions Collin Morikawa and Dustin Johnson will be key players to watch this week as the US PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs begin at the Northern Trust tournament.
Morikawa leads the season points standings entering the three-event season finale that concludes with the Tour Championship while Johnson is the defending FedEx Cup champion.
Both Americans also have become the first to clinch berths on the US team for next month’s Ryder Cup matches against Europe at Whistling Straits.
A field of 125 this week at Liberty National will be whittled down to 70 for next week’s BMW Championship.
Morikawa, who won last month’s British Open and last year’s PGA Championship, has won twice this year to top the points chase.
“It’s great to start out number one going into the playoffs. It means We had a couple wins, a couple top-10s -- overall, it feels good. My game feels good,” said Morikawa.
Johnson, who won last year’s Masters and the 2016 US Open, is the defending Northern Trust champion, winning last year at TPC Boston on his way to taking the FedEx Cup crown.
He ranks 17th in points this year but was only 15th at the start when he won in 2020.
Johnson and Morikawa are set for the Ryder Cup with Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Olympic champion Xander Schauffele in position for the other four berths available on points.
Koepka and DeChambeau have had a spat over social media that has caused some worries for observers about chemistry for the US team, but Johnson sees no concerns about such matters. - AFP
