OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau received the final three automatic qualifying spots on the U.S. Ryder Cup team following Sunday’s results at the BMW Championship.
The top six Americans in qualifying points following the BMW are guaranteed spots on the team that will battle Team Europe at Bethpage Black next month.
Henley tied for 15th at the BMW to remain in fourth in the U.S. points standings, and English tied for 12th to move into fifth. DeChambeau, meanwhile, did not receive qualifying points from LIV Golf, but thanks to his finishes at recent major championships, he still had enough to remain in the top six.
They join Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun and Xander Schauffele, who were mathematically locked into the 12-man team before Sunday. Schauffele won two majors in 2024, Spaun broke through at the U.S. Open in June and Scheffler has collected three majors in this two-year cycle amid his dominant run as the world’s best golfer.
Henley, 36, has five PGA Tour victories, including at this year’s Arnold Palmer Invitational. He competed at the 2024 Presidents Cup, but this will mark his first Ryder Cup appearance.
English, 36, likewise has five PGA Tour titles to his name and won the Farmers Insurance Open back in January. He tied for second at the PGA Championship and was the runner-up to Scheffler at The Open. English played for the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2021 but did not make the team that lost to Europe in 2023.
DeChambeau, 31, is one of the best players on the LIV circuit and won his second major title at the 2024 U.S. Open. He earned plenty of points by earning three top-10s at majors in 2025, including T2 at the PGA Championship. This will be his third Ryder Cup.
Other contenders who came up short of an automatic spot included Justin Thomas, who entered the week No. 7; Collin Morikawa, who was No. 8; and No. 11 Maverick McNealy, who could have leapfrogged DeChambeau in points if he won the BMW Championship. McNealy came close, but finished the event third.
All eyes turn to Keegan Bradley, who will announce six captain’s picks on Aug. 27. Thomas and Morikawa are virtually guaranteed spots; others with an argument include Ryder Cup veterans Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns and Rickie Fowler, and in-form youngsters Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup, both from the New York/New Jersey area. Young and Gotterup won on tour this summer and Young placed 11th at the BMW.
Of course, Bradley also has the ability to choose himself and become the first playing captain at the Ryder Cup since Arnold Palmer in 1963. Bradley was controversially left off the roster in 2023 before Zach Johnson’s U.S. team was flattened by Team Europe in Rome.
Bradley, 39, was No. 10 in the Ryder Cup qualifying standings entering the week. He tied for 17th at the BMW.
Team Europe has one more week before the top six players in the continent’s standings automatically qualify. European players can earn points at the British Masters on the DP World Tour, but not stateside at the Tour Championship.
Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland), Justin Rose (England) and Tommy Fleetwood (England) had clinched their spots on the team before this week, and fourth-place Robert MacIntyre (Scotland) will surely be helped by his runner-up finish at the BMW.
–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
