Steve Stricker, who helms this year’s US team, said the entire American team will meet for practice rounds at Whistling Straits prior to Ryder Cup week, something he believes will be a first for the red, white and blue.
Stricker acknowledged that the uncertainty over Reed’s health and the resulting lack of tournament play became too much of a liability to pick him for the American team.
Depending on who you talk to, the course is either a disaster waiting to happen or just another in a long line of so-so Old World venues for the biennial contest between Europe and the United States.
Collin Morikawa is a multiple-Major winner, Jordan Spieth remains the best show in golf, and the Open Championship scratched a links-golf itch two years in the making.
As is always the case at golf’s marquee events, there are no shortage of tantalising storylines leading up to Thursday’s first tee shot. Here are five to keep an eye on as you relish the return of The Open.
Brooks Koepka has already made his feelings known about the idea of September’s Ryder Cup being held without fans. He doesn’t like it. Thursday, he took things a step further.
Holding a Ryder Cup without spectators, however, would eliminate one of the central elements of the biennial competition, a fact that isn’t lost on organisers.