The PGA TOUR heads across the pond for its annual jaunt in Europe, which means there’s no better time to do a Ryder Cup check-in.

We’re now less than three months away from the first tee shots at Bethpage Black and the teams are already forming with names expected and unexpected. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have already automatically qualified on points, newsworthy only because they clinched it so early in the process. Realistically, the top six for either side won’t change drastically, barring a spot or two on each roster. J.J. Spaun is in position to make his first American team after winning the U.S. Open, and Robert MacIntyre’s runner-up finish pulled him into a great spot to possibly automatically qualify.

There are still, though, many outstanding questions about how the back end of the rosters will be filled, what the course will be set up like and if the entire makeup of the American team will shift if their captain turns in his walkie-talkie for a 9-iron.

So, let’s look at five of the biggest questions still outstanding about this year’s Ryder Cup.

Is the playing captain a viable strategy?

Keegan Bradley’s play has more than warranted a Ryder Cup selection, and the U.S. captain’s stance has softened about participating himself. At the beginning of the process, he said he would only play if he automatically qualified. Now, No. 9 in the Ryder Cup standings, he’s said that he will play if it’s the best thing for the team. Winning the Travelers Championship changed everything, he said.

That certainly hints at Bradley’s psyche. So, if he does play, is it a viable strategy to also attempt to captain the team? It’s a question that’s hard to answer. Tiger Woods did so at the 2019 Presidents Cup, but it hasn’t been done in the Ryder Cup since the 1960s. The job of captain has become much more involved since then, with plenty on the captain’s plate in the lead-up and during the event.

That much has been echoed by Bradley’s peers.

“I think for this Ryder Cup, doing both is going to be very difficult. I would think you’ve got to pick one or the other, right?” Sam Burns said at the PGA Championship. “I know all the other guys would have full confidence in his decision. (But with) what this means for the Americans, being in New York, it kind of just carries a little more weight.”

In fairness to Burns, that was before Bradley won at TPC River Highlands, but the same points remain. Is it doable to be a playing captain? Yes. Is it the best outcome? That’s up for Bradley to decide.

Will any of the slumping Americans make a push?

Speaking of Sam Burns, his improved form is a good development for an American squad that has sorely been looking for some of its stalwarts to perform better. Count Cameron Young in that mix as well.

But the list of Americans who were assumed to be in the mix for a spot but are now struggling is long. Max Homa, the top performer two years ago in Rome, has lost form. Wyndham Clark’s been shaky. Tony Finau has been disappointing. Patrick Cantlay has been solid but unremarkable. Sahith Theegala and Billy Horschel are out because of injury. Even some of the team’s locks – like Xander Schauffele – aren’t playing up to their level.

So can any Americans make a late summer run to inject some more confidence into the U.S. squad? The Open Championship and FedExCup Playoffs will provide numerous big chances for some Americans to emerge.

How will Europe round out its roster?

While the U.S. roster is in a bit of flux with the roster variations seemingly limitless, the European team appears much more defined as the calendar turns to July.

The stars are performing, their usual supporting characters are rounding into form, and the team’s leadership is running it back from their successful Ryder Cup in Rome.

Just a quick rundown of the top 12 in the Ryder Cup rankings:

• Rory McIlroy
• Tommy Fleetwood
• Tyrrell Hatton
• Robert MacIntyre
• Shane Lowry
• Sepp Straka
• Rasmus Højgaard
• Ludvig Åberg
• Justin Rose
• Viktor Hovland
• Thomas Detry
• Matt Wallace

Nine of those 12 players seem likely to make the team, with Højgaard, Detry and Wallace the most vulnerable. Jon Rahm is all but certain to grab a roster spot, which narrows the intrigue down to a few questions:

Will Rasmus Højgaard automatically qualify? And if he doesn’t, will he still be a captain’s pick?

Who gets that final selection (or two)?

The list of possibilities is long and largely inexperienced: Detry, Wallace, Niklas Norgaard, Aaron Rai, Thorbjørn Olesen, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Laurie Canter and Matt Fitzpatrick. So there’s still drama for Europe, it’s just over one or two spots on the roster.

Does distance still favor the U.S.?

In the last several decades of the Ryder Cup, course setup has become a bigger and bigger topic as the home team leans on analytics and advanced insights to set up the golf course to favor its roster. In many recent iterations of the event in America, that’s meant one thing: Stretch the course out as long as possible to play into the U.S. distance advantage. Bethpage Black, a brawny parkland course, could easily be set up to play like that. But should it?

The Americans don’t have the same distance advantage they used to. Per Data Golf, the American roster is projected to be only 0.5 yards longer than the Europeans. Essentially, it’s a wash. So, how will the U.S. set up Bethpage to favor them? It’s becoming tougher and tougher to find advantages anywhere. In the nascent days of the Ryder Cup, there was a large disparity in where the Americans and Europeans played their golf. By and large, the Americans played on the PGA TOUR and the Europeans played on the DP World Tour, each of which prioritized different skill sets. With almost all players now playing on the PGA TOUR, that has narrowed the skill gap, creating a situation like this year, where the teams’ statistical profiles are largely the same.

So don’t be surprised if distance isn’t as big of a priority at Bethpage as you might think.

Does any of this actually matter?

Ah, yes. The question that we all largely avoid because talking and debating about the Ryder Cup is great fun. But as we analyze every captain, possible roster decision and course setup choice with a fine-tooth comb, remember this: It almost always doesn’t matter. Who wins the Ryder Cup is almost solely decided by who is hosting it.

Only once in the last 20 years has an away team won the Ryder Cup, and that was done because of an incredibly improbable Sunday comeback by the Europeans in 2012 that has since been named the "Miracle at Medinah.” It took an actual miracle for the home team to lose an event.

Every year, we talk ourselves in circles, thinking another outcome is possible. But maybe this year will be different, right?