Phil Mickelson jumps up 2014 Ryder Cup standings, qualifies for U.S. roster on points

With the conclusion of the PGA Championship, the American roster for the Ryder Cup now has its automatic nine qualifiers. The most notable move on Sunday was Phil Mickelson’s second-place finish shooting him up the standings and into an automatic qualifying spot. Mickelson’s rise bumped Jason Dufner out of an auto-berth, while Zach Johnson did enough with a T70 finish to hang onto the 9th and final spot over Dufner.

It’s been a rough week for Dufner, who had to withdraw after just nine holes due to bulging discs in his neck. Dufner has been a stud in these American team competitions, both at the 2012 Ryder Cup and the 2013 Presidents Cup. His partnership with Zach Johnson usually results in a ball-striking show, and they’ve been a natural and successful duo. But Dufner is in poor health, and said he probably needs six to eight weeks rest before he gets any better. That would make him borderline healthy when the Ryder Cup rolls around on the final weekend of September. He would be a valuable member of the team, but based on how the neck injury has made him either ineffective or wholly unable to play over the past month, he’s probably not getting a captain’s pick.

Mickelson, who was almost certainly going to be a captain’s pick, said he wanted to get in on points and take it out of Tom Watson’s hands. Phil has now made the team for the past 20 years, going back to the 1995 group at Oak Hill. After an awful year, he seems to finally have his game in form and will be a natural partner for several young Americans, most notably Rickie Fowler, who he played with on Sunday.

Captain’s picks will be announced on Sept. 2. Keegan Bradley is probably a lock at this point, but after that it’s dicey. Webb Simpson, Ryan Moore, Brandt Snedeker, Brendon Todd and Hunter Mahan are some of the top names under consideration. And then there’s Tiger Woods, who is probably not going to play again until at least the Ryder Cup, and possibly the rest of the year if he’s not picked. Woods reportedly has a “dialogue” going with Watson right now, according to Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte. That’s better than nothing, but his candidacy is not a strong one if you’re going for the best players to make the best team at the end of September.

We’ll have four weeks of debate on who should fill those final three spots, but here are the nine that are now set for Gleneagles. Matt Kuchar, who withdrew due to a back injury this week, may be the only question mark but we have little information on just how serious his injury is at this point.