SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — Jimmy Walker was running out of time to make the Ryder Cup team for the second time in a row.
Winning the PGA Championship took care of that.
Walker went from No. 29 in the U.S. standings all the way up to No. 4 because of the double points at a major. With only four events remaining, and with a major championship on his side, he is virtually a lock to be at Hazeltine on Sept. 30.
He went 1-1-3 at Gleneagles as a Ryder Cup rookie, beating Lee Westwood in singles.
“I remember when I left … I said, ‘I never want to miss another one again,’” Walker said. “I thought about that all year. I haven’t played as well as I would have liked to.”
Walker said he saw U.S. captain Davis Love III this week and told him there was still time for him to play his way onto the team, or maybe even show Love enough form that he was worth of a pick. That’s no longer necessary.
It also was a big week for Brooks Koepka, who had dropped from No. 3 to No. 9 by missing a World Golf Championship and the British Open with an ankle injury. He walked 18 holes Thursday for the first time since the U.S. Open. The ankle remains tender. But he shot 66-70 on Sunday and tied for fourth, moving up to No. 5.
He is the equivalent of $680,000 ahead of Bubba Watson, who slipped to No. 9, with four tournaments left. The top eight automatically make the team.
“I won’t need a pick,” Koepka said.
Watson fell out of the top eight, while Matt Kuchar missed the cut and dropped three spots to No. 11. Rickie Fowler is now No. 12.
Masters bound
A 74 in the final round of the U.S. Open cost Daniel Summerhays a top-four finish and a spot in the Masters.
On Sunday, he didn’t let the chance slip away.
Summerhays had five birdies over the last seven holes for a 66, giving him third place alone and a tee time at Augusta National next April for the first time.
“I was definitely thinking about that going up the 18th hole,” he said. “That’s a lifetime dream. I knew exactly where I stood. I knew what was going on. It’s so fun to know where you are and the situation and pump a drive down the middle of the fairway on kind of intimidating-looking finishing drive. Then to hit a wood up on the green like that and almost make a putt, that was pretty amazing.”
Summerhays loves the Masters so much that he says he has memorized the theme song.
Robert Streb wasn’t as fortunate. Needing to par the final two holes — both par 5s — he made bogey from two bunkers on the 17th and missed a 7-foot birdie on the 18th to finish out of the top four.
Lefty’s outlook
Phil Mickelson ended his run through the majors in good spirits. He didn’t play how he wanted at the PGA Championship, but he was looking forward to the longest break he has had since he could remember.
He won’t play again until The Barclays on Aug. 25 to start the FedEx Cup playoffs.
“I’ll take these three weeks off and be fresh and ready heading into the FedEx Cup,” Mickelson said. “This is the first time where I’m excited to play all four FedEx Cup events. Usually I only play three. I’ll be fresh and excited to go out in the Ryder Cup, too.”
This is one of Mickelson’s best years without having won through the majors. He has been runner-up three times, starting with a short birdie putt he missed at Pebble Beach and most recently his British Open performance that was among the best, just not better than Henrik Stenson.
He hasn’t won since the 2013 British Open, a stretch of 68 tournaments worldwide. But there’s still time with the four FedEx Cup playoff events, and the Safeway Open in October.
“I’m starting to see my game come back,” Mickelson said. “I’m starting to hit the shots again, what I’m visualizing, what I’m seeing and doing it with ease now.”
Sports on 08/01/2016