Playing LIV Golf cost me a Ryder Cup spot

When the Ryder Cup begins later this month in Italy, Dustin Johnson will have the same view as most of us: on a television, thousands of miles from the action.

Johnson, a two-time major champion, believes he was snubbed for the U.S. team because he bolted the PGA Tour for LIV Golf.

‌“I would love to be a part of the team,” Johnson said, according to The Telegraph. “But have I played well enough to be on the team? Yeah. I didn’t have the best year. Was it good enough to make the team? I think so. If I would have been playing on [the PGA Tour], yeah, I would have made the team. Do I think I can help the US team? Absolutely.”

Johnson is 40th in Ryder Cup standings, due mostly to his lack of participation on the PGA Tour, denying him opportunities to collect qualifying points.

When U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson made his six captain’s picks, he reportedly did not want anyone who ranked lower than 25th in the standings.

Brooks Koepka, another LIV Golf star, was selected — but he was seventh in the Ryder Cup standings on the strength of his PGA Championship win in May and a second in the Masters a month prior.

Johnson’s biggest beef probably is the controversial selection of Justin Thomas as a captain’s pick.

Thomas struggled all season, missing the cut at the Masters, U.S. Open and British Open.

Johnson’s best major finish this year was 10th at the U.S. Open, but that wasn’t good enough.

He spoke to Zach Johnson before the captain’s picks were announced.

‌“I told him I’d love to be on the team. But like I said, not being on the Tour, I needed to really play well,” Dustin Johnson said, per the Palm Beach Post. “If I would have played a little better at the majors, I think I definitely would have had a really good chance. But I just struggled a little bit in the majors this year, which happens. When you’ve been a part of teams for the last 12-14 years, you want to be a part of it because they are great events.”

There is the possibility that the U.S. Ryder Cup captain may regret leaving Johnson behind.

A veteran of five Ryder Cup teams, Johnson went 5-0 in his 2021 matches at Whistling Straits, leading the U.S. to a convincing 19-9 win.

The 39-year-old Johnson became the fourth player to go 5-0 in Ryder Cup history, joining the likes of Arnold Palmer (1967), Gardner Dickinson (1967) and Larry Nelson (1979), according to the Palm Beach Post.