Strange, Beck Qualify for Ryder Cup Team

U.S. Open golf champion Curtis Strange and Chip Beck have joined British Open victor Mark Calcavecchia in qualifying for the U.S. Ryder Cup team to play Europe, the PGA of America announced today.

“The additions of Curtis and Chip to this year’s team will greatly enhance our chances of returning the Ryder Cup back to American soil,” U.S. captain Raymond Floyd said.

Strange, winner of the U.S. Open for the last two years, was the 1988 player-of-the-year and has appeared in the last three Ryder Cups. Beck, who won two events last year and has been playing consistently well, will be making his debut.

Calcavecchia, who won the British Open crown on Sunday in a playoff with Australians Greg Norman and Wayne Grady, had already clinched a place on the Ryder Cup team.

The United States leads the biennial series 21-5 with one tie but lost to Europe in the last two contests. The next meeting takes place Sept. 22-24 at the Belfry in central England.

Only three events remain for U.S. players to gain points for the 12-man Ryder Cup team. The last is the Aug. 10-13 PGA championship, whose winner automatically qualifies.

Ryder Cup points leaders are Calcavecchia with 867.50 points; Strange, 666.250; Beck, 643.000; Tom Kite, 587.500; Paul Azinger, 532.500; Fred Couples, 518.542; Payne Stewart, 470.000; Ken Green, 465.000; Mark McCumber, 419.167; Mark O’Meara, 412.500; Steve Pate, 391.667; Joey Sindelar, 376.500; Bruce Lietzke, 372.500; Ben Crenshaw, 370.500; Scott Hoch, 363.333; Lanny Wadkins, 353.000; Dan Pohl, 300.000; Mike Reid, 288.000; Craig Stadler, 280.000, and Gil Morgan, 275.000.