Tournament within the tournament
All eight automatic qualifying spots will be filled on the U.S. Ryder Cup team by the end of play Sunday at the The Barclays in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Who's already in: The top five in the points standings — Jordan Spieth, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Jimmy Walker and Brooks Koepka.
Next in line: With three automatic spots still open, fewer than 400 points separate sixth place from 11th place in the standings. Those six golfers, in order of most points, are Brandt Snedeker, Zach Johnson, Patrick Reed, J.B. Holmes, Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar. Every $1,000 in earnings this weekend counts as one Ryder Cup point. For example, the winner will get 1,530 points with his $1.53 million won.
Holding out hope: Eleven more players are still in the mathematical hunt. From long shot to longest shot, they are Rickie Fowler, Scott Piercy, Bill Haas, Jim Furyk, Daniel Berger, William McGirt, Kevin Chappell, Jason Dufner, Kevin Na, Daniel Summerhays and Charley Hoffman.
After Sunday: Davis Love III will make four captain's picks in the coming weeks, bringing the team to its 12 players for the tournament at the end of September at Hazeltine National.
