Dustin Johnson Says He Would Have Made The U.S. Ryder Cup Team If He Still Played On The PGA Tour

Dustin Johnson has been a regular on the U.S. Ryder Cup team having played in five of the last six, but this year the 39-year-old will be watching the biennial event from home. He believes that's the reality due to the fact that he doesn't play on the PGA Tour anymore.

Johnson was beyond dominant in the 2021 Ryder Cup as he became the first American to go 5-0 in the event. Most years, that record along with his strong résume would speak for itself, but this year's Ryder Cup is like nothing we've ever seen before given the fact that LIV Golf is a thing that does, in fact, exist.

Dustin Johnson claims he missed out on the U.S. Ryder Cup team because he doesn't play on the PGA Tour anymore. (Photo by Chris Trotman/LIV Golf via Getty Images)

Johnson seems to believe his decision to join the Saudi-backed circuit played a significant role in him not receiving a captain's pick for this year's team.

"But have I played well enough to be on the team? Yeah. I didn't have the best year. Was it good enough to make the team? I think so. If I would have been playing on (the PGA Tour), yeah, I would have made the team," Johnson told the Palm Beach Post.

"Do I think I can help the US team? Absolutely."

This is the classic case of two things being able to be true at once.

There is no doubt that Johnson's ties to LIV Golf played a role in team captain Zach Johnson not selecting DJ with a captain's pick. On the other side of that coin, Johnson could have performed better in major championships this season - LIV players' only opportunity to earn ranking points - but instead struggled for the most part.

Johnson finished T-10 at the U.S. Open, but missed the cut at The Open and managed a T-48 and T-55 finish at the Masters and PGA Championship, respectively, which certainly didn't help his cause. He finished the year ranked 40th in the U.S. team standings.

The only LIV player to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team was Brooks Koepka who went out and won the PGA Championship and finished T-2 at the Masters in April. He finished seventh in the team standings, with the first six players automatically qualifying for the team.

At the end of the day, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, and Koepka received captain's picks. Looking at that list of players, it's tough to imagine Johnson being worthy of a spot over any of them.