Procore gets boost from Scheffler, other Ryder Cuppers

NAPA — There was the No. 1-ranked male golfer sounding very much like the coach of the No. 1-ranked college football team.

When a journalist tried to watch members of the US Ryder Cup team hitting shots Tuesday at Silverado Country Club, Scottie Schleffler, maybe only half seriously, said, “Sorry, this is a closed practice.” 

This is the week the PGA Tour returns, as usual, here at the Procore Championship, which tees off Thursday. Then again, it is not as usual, because the field of aspiring young players includes a group of very established not-so-young players, members of the US Ryder Cup team, which faces Europe at the end of September.

The matches will be at Beth Page Black on Long Island. That’s some 2,500 miles from Silverado, but both courses have 18 holes, so we are not talking distance; we are talking timing.  

The idea is for Scheffler and other members of the American team to work on their games and their camaraderie, while also taking part in the PGA Tour tournament.

If that seems like two events in one, well, it is.

This is not to demean the Procore, which has an unenviable spot on the PGA Tour’s fall schedule. As you are aware, that’s the time of year America becomes obsessed with football—professional, college, and high school.

So the Procore often gets little attention on the sport’s calendar. Except this year. It received a wonderful boost with all but two of the Ryder Cuppers involved.

Non-playing Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley was strongly in favor of his squad getting competition that maybe didn’t matter, before the competition that certainly does matter.

Europe, with players such as Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, and Tommy Fleetwood, defeated America in the last matches of 2023. 

“I think it’s great for the tournament,” said Patton Kizzire. He won the Procore last year, and although not a member of the Ryder Cup team, he understands the benefit to both the tournament and Cup players.

“It creates a lot of buzz,” said Kizzire. “As the defending champion, it’s a little more incentive to play well and to get out there and do my best and play like I can play. It gives us the opportunity to win against a really strong field. I think it’s fantastic for the tournament and I’m excited to see them here.” 

The only members of the American team not at Silverado are Zander Schauffele, whose wife gave birth to a boy, Victor, on August 29th, and Bryson DeChambeau, who, because he is a member of the LIV tour, was not invited.

“Things out here on the PGA Tour are very individual,” US Open Champion JJ Spaun told PGATour.com about the American players coming to Napa. 

“You can be isolated at times, so it’s cool and a nice change of pace to have a group of guys who are cheering each other on.”

As they work to win back the Ryder Cup.