Brooks Koepka was "forced" in to US Ryder Cup team admits former captain

Brooks Koepka was forced in and Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau will be missed, explains former Ryder Cup captain.

Brooks Koepka was "forced" in to US Ryder Cup team admits former captain
Brooks Koepka was "forced" in to US Ryder Cup team admits former captain

Three-time European Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallacher believes Zach Johnson was forced to pick LIV Golf's Brooks Koepka in his US Ryder Cup team.

Gallacher, speaking to Mirror Sport, thinks the decision was made for him simply because Koepka won the US PGA Championship earlier this season which is run by the PGA of America, who also run the US Ryder Cup team. 

He also considers Koepka's fellow LIV Golf players Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau, who were both refused a pick, will be hugely missed in the US Ryder Cup side at Marco Simone in two weeks' time. 

Gallacher told Mirror Sport

"You talk about us missing Sergio [Garcia], Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, but the Americans have big misses too. 
"The American team are always strong but they will miss Dustin Johnson not playing and they will miss Bryson DeChambeau.
"Dustin Johnson got five points in Whistling Straits last year, and Bryson DeChambeau was undefeated as well, not having them in the American side gives us [Europe] a real chance of winning in Rome.
"With Dustin Johnson you take a guy out who won every match and Bryson DeChambeau was one of the stars as well.
"We will miss our players from the LIV Tour, but America will miss their players more.
"Zach Johnson was forced to pick Brooks Koepka, because Koepka finished runner-up in the Masters and won the USPGA, and that major and the Ryder Cup is run by the PGA so it was a loophole that he managed to get in.
"He was forced to put him in whether he liked it or not. Whether he agreed with LIV players or not he just couldn’t not pick Brooks Koepka."

Gallacher became the youngest player to represent Great Britain & Ireland in the Ryder Cup aged 20 in 1969. 

That record was then beaten by Sergio Garcia, aged 19 in 1999. 

Gallacher played in eight Ryder Cups and he was a non-playing captain of the European Ryder Cup team in 1991, 1993 and 1995.

Despite losing out in 1991 and 1993, Gallacher got revenge with victory at Oak Hill in 1995. 

Team USA has not won a Ryder Cup on European soil since 1993.

What do you make of Gallacher's comments? Was Koepka really a "forced" pick in the US Ryder Cup team? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels. 

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