Ryder Cup captaincy keeps Zach Johnson even busier at PGA Championship

PITSFORD, N.Y. — You could say there are two Zach Johnsons at this year’s PGA Championship.

First, there’s Zach Johnson the golfer, a 47-year-old in the twilight of his playing career.

The 12-time winner on the PGA Tour, including two majors, has not been anywhere near his best form in a very long time. His last win came in 2015 and, in recent weeks, he has missed the cut in three of his last six tournaments, including the last two, with his best finish in a made cut being a tie for 34th.

He shot a 4-over 74 on Thursday.

Then there’s Zach Johnson, the Ryder Cup captain. The Cedar Rapids native and Drake graduate has been busy in that capacity from the moment he arrived at the course.

He’s been talking to players being considered for the team, huddling with his vice captains on the team’s plans, and meeting with representatives of the PGA of America who are anxious to see Johnson lead the U.S. team to victory on European soil for the first time in 30 years.

In a news conference Wednesday to discuss the iconic team event that will be contested in Italy this September, Johnson said he still believes he can qualify for the team as a player and serve as a playing captain.

“That sounds really, really outlandish, but I’d love to have the opportunity to not pick me,” said Johnson, who is playing this week in his 20th PGA Championship, with a tie for third in 2010 being his best finish.

As for his captaincy duties, Johnson said he’s “still just on the start line, more or less,” even though the competition is only four months away.

“Nothing of any significance has been decided, or even had the opportunity to, with the exception of a couple vice captains,” said Johnson, who competed in five Ryder Cups as a player, the most recent being 2016, while serving as a vice captain in the last two in 2018 and 2021. “I'm just trying to keep it on their (the American players’) radar. I think it is.

“Not everybody has voiced it to me, but a lot have (said) that it’s a massive priority, which is great. It was for me every two years. That excitement is starting to burn. I have it. I’m jacked. It's one of the things in my profession that I legitimately live for.”

He added when he does get around to his most critical contribution — making his six captain’s picks, with the other six spots on the 12-man team predetermined based on performance — he has a clear idea of how he will decide.

“I want camaraderie and chemistry in the team room. I want ownership by the team. I think it probably holds more true over there than over here. And I want horses for courses. I want guys that can navigate Marco Simone (the course in Rome),” he said, noting one decision he has made is that the team will travel to Italy about two to three weeks before the Ryder Cup to practice on the course and get familiar with the setting there.

One theme that came up repeatedly is whether or not Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka — two elite players who abandoned the PGA Tour to go to LIV Golf — will be selected if they do not make the top six based on merit, which seems likely considering their only chance to gain qualifying points is at the four major championships. The captain was coy, only saying that it is “really difficult” for him to evaluate them.

“I don't know the golf courses they’re playing,” Johnson said. “Never seen them. I’m not there on foot in person.”

It’s no coincidence the PGA of America put Johnson, the player, Thursday and Friday in a group with Kurt Kitayama and Sahith Theegala, two of the Americans likely to be considered for captain’s picks, so he can see them up-close in the pressure of a major championship.