From the bunkers to the Ryder Cup, the hottest topics at The Open - ESPN

HOYLAKE, England — When Brooks Koepka walked up to the first tee at Royal Liverpool Golf Club for a practice round Monday, U.S. Ryder Cup team captain Zach Johnson, world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler and defending Open Championship winner Cameron Smith were waiting to tee off as well.

«There was a good little wait, so we all played,» Koepka said.

It was probably a good idea for Johnson and Koepka to get reacquainted before the upcoming Ryder Cup, which is scheduled Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at Marco Simone Golf Club outside Rome. Koepka all but secured a spot on the U.S. team by winning the PGA Championship for a third time in May. He could probably wrap it up with a good showing this week, which will be the LIV Golf League star's last chance to earn Ryder Cup points.

«Yeah, it was fun,» Koepka said. «We got to talk about it a little bit, just what's going on, I guess how the team is shaping up. It's kind of interesting.»

While Koepka's roster spot seems safe, there are still questions concerning both the U.S. and European rosters, and a handful of players could help themselves with strong showings in the last major championship of the season.

The U.S. team will include six automatic qualifiers — the players with the most Ryder Cup points after the BMW Championship on Aug. 20. As of Thursday, the top six players are Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Koepka, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Max Homa. All but Homa seem nearly guaranteed of making the squad right now, even if they fall out of the top six.

«Obviously, I know where I stand in the rankings,» said Clark, the U.S. Open winner. " I don't know how it would play out the rest of the year. I would like to think I'm on the team, but at the same time, I believe I've still got to