The final sprint in Ryder Cup Qualifying begins this week.
Coming off the Open Championship, the PGA Tour heads to TPC Twin Cities for the 3M Open, the penultimate regular-season event.
With just four events until U.S. Ryder Cup qualifying ends — the 3M Open, Wyndham Championship and two FedExCup playoff events, the FedEx St. Jude Invitational and BMW Championship — every round matters. Players have one point available for every $1,000 earned in those remaining tournaments, and a missed cut can easily equal a missed opportunity for any player looking for a ticket to Rome.
Here are four players on the bubble who need a big week at the 3M Open to keep their Ryder Cup dreams alive:
Justin Thomas
Current rank in Ryder Cup Rankings: 14
Current FedExCup rank: 75
This wasn't the type of season Thomas envisioned. A year after winning the PGA Championship, Thomas has just three top-10s in 18 starts, and finds himself on the edge of missing not only the Ryder Cup, but also the FedExCup playoffs, at five spots back of the post-season's final berth.
Thomas has been a Ryder Cup stalwart, boasting a 6-2-1 record in his two previous appearances. However, he's in jeopardy of being left off the U.S. squad — and that's weighing heavily on his mind.
"I want to make the Ryder Cup more than anything," Thomas said after missing the cut at The Open. "I'm probably honestly trying too hard to do it."
Thomas, 30, has won on Tour every year since 2016, and if he can post a victory — or come close to it — in Minnesota, it would propel him into the playoffs, and possibly all the way to Rome.
Tony Finau
Current rank in Ryder Cup Rankings: 19
Current FedExCup rank: 10
Finau's two wins this season — the Houston and Mexico Opens — have him well on pace to make the Tour Championship, yet he’s fallen behind in the Ryder Cup race without a top-20 since his victory in Mexico.
The 33-year-old sits 19th in points for the U.S., but has hopes a strong run in the next month, plus his past Ryder Cup experience, will help him clinch one of Team USA's 12 spots for the third straight event.
“I think if winning and experience holds a lot of weight, then I feel like I've done enough," Finau, who has a 3-3 Ryder Cup record, said Tuesday at TPC Twin Cities. "If consistency and form is the formula that the captains are looking for, then the answer's probably no… But the great thing for me is the picks aren't tomorrow; the picks are still in about a month (after the Tour Championship). I've got four tournaments to make my case if there is a question, and that's what I intend to do.”
Luckily for Finau, his mission begins with his 3M Open title defense, an event where he is cumulatively 53-under par over the last four years at TPC Twin Cities.
Sahith Theegala
Current rank in Ryder Cup Rankings: 21
Current FedExCup rank: 32
The 25-year-old was inching his way to Rome after posting his seventh top 10 of the year at April's RBC Heritage, but has been in a bit of a drought since Hilton Head.
And while his spot in the playoffs appears safe, Theegala has just one month to turn it around before qualifying ends. His bid would get a big boost if he can find his way to the Tour Championship for the second straight year. Earning his maiden Tour victory would help, too.
Cameron Young
Current rank in Ryder Cup Rankings: 8
Current FedExCup rank: 41
Right now, it would be a surprise if the reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year was left off the U.S. squad, but nothing is yet set in stone.
Coming off consecutive top-10s with a T-8 at The Open, a continuation of his recent form would help Young edge into the top 6 for the U.S. Team, and claim an automatic qualifying spot after the BMW Championship. TPC Twin Cities, a 7,400-yard layout, has typically favored long-hitters, boasting Finau, Matthew Wolff and Cameron Champ as past champions, and a win at the 3M Open would certainly go a long way in helping Young (currently third on Tour in driving distance) book a trip to Rome.
