Even with a championship in the balance in a PGA Tour event, a good portion of the golfers in the Procore Championship have larger aspirations this month.
That’s because the tournament served as a final on-course tune-up for the Ryder Cup.
“It was a good prep week, the guys definitely stayed sharp this week,” said Scottie Scheffler, who won the tournament on Sunday in Napa, Calif.
Ten of the 12 U.S. players for the Ryder Cup took part in the Procore Championship. Only Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau from the U.S. team weren’t in the field. Schauffele recently became a father and DeChambeau is ineligible as a member of LIV Golf.
“It was a good move just to get everyone sort of together and get that chemistry going,” J.J. Spaun said. “Get those team atmosphere juices flowing.”
While the Ryder Cup members were mostly paired together for the first two rounds, they also spent time off the course together. That included a dinner earlier in the week as team captain Keegan Bradley was on site but wasn’t entered in the Procore Championship.
“It’s really fun to be together as a team outside the Ryder Cup because the Ryder Cup is so intense and nerve-wracking,” Bradley said. “So it’s fun to see the guys interact, a little lighter scene here.”
The Ryder Cup begins in less than two weeks at Bethpage Black Course in Farmingdale, N.Y.
“I think as you look back at a couple years ago, a lot of us came in taking four weeks off and at the end of the day we looked back and said how do we get better, right?” Collin Morikawa said. “How do we give ourselves a better chance to go out there and compete? I know for myself I didn’t feel like I was as prepared a couple years ago even though I put a lot of work in those four weeks.”
Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 golfer, won his sixth tournament of the year over the weekend, but he was peppered with a regular dose of Ryder Cup questions. He overcame Ryder Cup teammate Ben Griffin to win by one stroke.
“We love going into the Ryder Cup seeing guys play well, and Ben (has) had a great year, so it’s nice to see him continue that trend this week and have a good prep week going into the Ryder Cup,” Scheffler said.
Griffin will turn his attention quickly to what lies ahead.
“I’ll get to work this next week and hopefully make every single one of them at the Ryder Cup,” Griffin said, referring to a would-be tying birdie putt that he missed on the final hole Sunday.
Griffin said he understood the attention and the questions about the Ryder Cup. He said his best preparation during the past week was to focus on the Procore Championship and what he could accomplish in that tournament to be in an ideal place going to Bethpage.
“Definitely, I’d say like after I got the call from Keegan I was on the team, that was like one of those crazy moments where I couldn’t really believe that I had achieved what I had done,” Griffin said. “But then the focus shifted straight to, all right, I need to prepare for the Procore because I knew he wanted everyone to play.”
It was a good showing for U.S. team members, with Cameron Young joining Scheffler, Griffin and Spaun in the top 10 and Sam Burns and Russell Henley in the top 20.
Of course, there was more to it than that.
“A lot of great vibes throughout the meetings and the dinners we’ve had,” Morikawa said. “That’s what you ask for. I think we’re all very close.”
It proved to be quite a send-off, with the golfers ready to fully transition to the Ryder Cup.
“We heard lots of ‘USA’ chants and lots of good-luck wishes for the Ryder Cup,” Scheffler said. “… I think we’re all excited for the tournament to get started. We’ve got three days in New York to compete and have fun. We’re all looking forward to it.”
