Ryder Cup hype overshadows start of Procore Championship

The Procore Championship signals the start of the FedEx Cup Fall series, but Ryder Cup hype is taking over Silverado Resort this week as 10 U.S. team members compete in the event beginning Thursday in Napa, Calif.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler will play the tournament for the first time, and he's joined by every American Ryder Cup player except Xander Schauffele and LIV Golf's Bryson DeChambeau. Schauffele opted not to compete after the recent birth of his first child.

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley is on the scene, too. He decided not to use one of six captain's picks on himself, nor is he playing in the Procore, yet he spoke at length to reporters Wednesday about the task ahead of him before the competition against Team Europe at Bethpage Black on Sept. 26-28.

"Now we know our 12 (players) and it's great to be around those guys, hear what they're saying, really kind of finalizing pairings and figure out how to send them out," Bradley said.

"And it's really fun for me to be the captain in front of the guys and not be playing because when I'm out there playing, I have to still be focused on that job and practicing and getting ready to play. Now I have one job and that's to prepare them and to do whatever they need this week to help them play better."

Most of the American team had several weeks off from competitive golf between the 2023 FedEx Cup Playoffs and the Ryder Cup in Rome. Team Europe rolled to a 16 1/2-11 1/2 victory, and they'll have 11 of those 12 players back along with returning captain Luke Donald.

"I think the players knew it was important (to tune up in Napa). This Ryder Cup means everything to them," Bradley said. "You know, we talk a lot behind the scenes of how much this means to us and they are willing to do whatever it takes to be prepared.

"No, this is something that we wanted. When I was named captain, this was something that I wanted, but like they wanted it more than I did."

The other Ryder Cup players competing besides Scheffler are J.J. Spaun, Russell Henley, Harris English, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns.

It's unclear how much to read into the pairings of the first two rounds, but Scheffler will start out in a threesome with Spaun and Henley; Morikawa and English are together; Thomas, Griffin and Young make up a group; and Cantlay and Burns will play together as two of the best putters on tour.

"I felt like for myself going into the last Ryder Cup, my prep work may not have been as good as it should have been," Scheffler said. "I think I could have been a little bit sharper at that tournament. It's just because it's just different playing tournament golf, it really is. That was a learning experience for me."

Relegated to a subplot this week is the FedEx Cup Fall, where players who missed the top 50 in the in-season FedEx Cup race have multiple motivations to compete. Finishing the fall Nos. 51-60 unlocks berths in two signature events, the 2026 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Invitational. The top 100 retain their PGA Tour cards, Nos. 101-125 keep conditional status and falling outside that spells danger for losing your card.

It's an important tournament for two-time champion Max Homa, who begins the fall No. 111. Patton Kizzire is No. 180 but earned a two-year exemption on tour when he won last year's Procore Championship by five shots.

--Field Level Media