![Dustin Johnson didn't make the U.S. Ryder Cup team](https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/c_fit,f_auto, g_center,q_60,w_645/c16971a5ba9b7277ea13a9b863a7e8f0.jpg)
You reap what you sow. And Dustin Johnson has no one to blame but himself for not creating the United States Ryder Cup team. He once sold to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf last year for an amount of reported $125 millionhis margin for error in making golf the premier team event became razor-thin. And it shouldn’t come as a shock to Johnson based on his performance at major tournaments over the past year he was not chosen. Ending in a shared 48th place with the Masters, tied for 55th at the PGA Championship, and missing the cut at the British Open doesn’t mean you’re representing the United States at all. And these three performances erase a tie for 10th at this year’s US Open.
Johnson has played well in the LIV competition, earning 10 top-5 finishes in 11 events. With how upstart the LIV is, even with a merger with the PGA Tour still hidden in plain sight, it’s the way you perform with the lights on the brightest that determined the fate of Johnson’s Ryder Cup. There is only one LIV golfer on the US team – Brooks Koepka, who narrowly missed out on being automatically selected to the team based on his world ranking. Then came U.S. captain Zach Johnson’s six picks. DJ is not in a relationship with Zach, but the duo are said to have spoken at major events this year, with unselected Johnson telling the US captain he would like to play for the team. It didn’t come to fruition.
“I would love to be part of the team,” Johnson said Palm Beach Post. “But to be honest, I didn’t play that well this year. But did I play well enough to be on the team? Yes. I haven’t had the best year. Was it good enough to make the team? I think so. If I had played on (the PGA tour), yes, I would have made the team.
That previous quote seems contradictory. You played well enough to be in a selective group, even though you know you didn’t give your best this year? Okay, DJ. There are only 12 spots for Americans in the biennial tournament. Staying in the bubble is, at best, not the way to ensure you represent your country. Take a lesson from your fellow Saudi financier. Koepka left no doubt as to why he had to be at the Ryder Cup, defection or not. Zach Johnson said as much In explaining his selections, he noted that Koepka really jumped at the chance to play for the Americans in Italy later this month.
Now more than ever, golf is really about focusing on what you’ve been doing lately. With the PGA no longer the undisputed king of the sport due to the blood money being thrown around by royalty in the Middle East, the most important thing is to perform at your best when everyone is on the same greens and fairways. Not your history. In that case, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are shoe-ins for every American team as long as they can walk. DJ in 2021 became the first American to finish a Ryder Cup with an individual record of 5-0 in more than four decades, and he has been part of five Ryder Cups. That has little credibility to be elected this year. DJ had a great run for the US and if the goal is for the Americans to dominate Team Europe, like two years ago, he had to stay home.