Zach Johnson Sends Cryptic Message To Brooks Koepka, Other LIV Golfers About Upcoming Ryder Cup

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Zach Johnson will be faced with tough decisions in less than two weeks' time when he makes his captain's picks for the upcoming Ryder Cup in Rome. Brooks Koepka shouldn't play a factor in the U.S. captain's looming decisions, or so we thought.

After picking up his third PGA Championship earlier this year and a T-2 finish at the Masters in April, Koepka currently finds himself fifth in the U.S. team standings. The top six in the standings after the conclusion of this week's BMW Championship will automatically earn a spot on the team headed to Rome.

Koepka is the lone LIV golfer in the Top 35 of the team standings, let alone the top six, but Johnson doesn't exactly seem thrilled about the expectation of a PGA Tour defector being on the 12-man squad, even if he is a five-time major winner.

“There hasn’t been much communication,” Johnson told Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on the 'Subpar' podcast regarding LIV golfers with a chance of making the team.

“I’m gonna be fully transparent. It’s hard because I’m not able to witness what they’re doing and see their form, with the exception of four events a year. What Brooks has done this year, well no one’s surprised. I’m just glad he’s healthy.”

Brooks Koepka will likely qualify for the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but Zach Johnson may have mixed feelings about that. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

It's worth noting that these comments from Johnson weren't recorded months ago and just now released to help build Ryder Cup excitement. The podcast was published on August 17 and was part of an interview that was done at the Ralph Lauren store in Chicago to preview the U.S. team's outfits, which were only shared earlier this week.

While Johnson's comments about not being able to witness LIV players do their thing is reasonable, he doesn't need to do anything but look at Koepka's résume to know he's earned a spot on this year's Ryder Cup team.

LIV finishes aside, win at the PGA Championship, a T-2 finish at Augusta National, and another Top 20 in the U.S. Open speak for themselves. He's also been a part of three different Ryder Cup teams and carried an overall record of 6-5-1.

Follow Mark Harris on Twitter @ItIsMarkHarris

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.