Harris English is in.
The Georgia golfer was named one of six picks to round out the U.S. Ryder Cup team, captain Steve Stricker announced Wednesday. English, who just competed in the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club, will be making his Ryder Cup debut.
English was joined as picks by Daniel Berger, Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth. They are joined by the six automatic qualifiers of Collin Morikawa, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay.
The 12-man team will compete against Europe at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin on Sept. 24-26.
English, who won twice on the PGA Tour this year, finished FedEx Cup playoffs tied for 18th after a tie for 18th finish at the Tour Championship. He finished 10th in the Ryder Cup point standings, needing a selection from Stricker to make the team.
English talked to Stricker before the Tour Championship.
“Go out and play golf, end of the year and no added pressure to make the Ryder Cup,” English said after this final round. “That’s kind of the gist I got from some of the vice captains and Stricker himself. I felt like this week I was trying to compete, going to try to win a FedEx Cup and Tour Championship, and didn’t do that but hopefully it’s good enough to get on the Ryder Cup team.”
Notably absent from the captain’s picks is Patrick Reed, who played at Georgia and Augusta State, with his impressive past record in team play, including a 7-3-2 record, and a perfect 3-0 in singles, in three Ryder Cup appearances. Reed returned from missing nearly a month due to a serious battle with bilateral pneumonia at the Tour Championship. He finished tied for 17th.
Reed was the first call of Stricker as he reached out to several who did not make the team.
“That was a very, very difficult call, kind of lost sleep over that one,” Stricker said. “… I think just the uncertainty of his health and really the lack of play that led to our decision down the stretch.
“I just knew that it was going to be hard, but he took like a true champion and I apologized many times to him. Just wanted to make sure he knew that it was a very difficult decision.”
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