Andy Lyons

MEMPHIS — England’s Harry Hall has not missed a cut since mid-March at the Players Championship, has posted eight top-25 finishes in his last nine starts and is statistically the best putter on the PGA Tour, leading the strokes gained category.

It appears that the 28-year-old has been making a strong case for inclusion on the European Ryder Cup team when it heads to Bethpage Black next month in its bid for the first “road” win in the biennial matches since Europe’s miraculous rally at Medinah Country Club in 2012.

That continued on Thursday in the opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship when Hall shot a bogey-free six-under 64 at TPC Southwind, bettered in the early going by playing partner Akshay Bhatia’s sterling 62.

Hall, who won last year’s ISCO Championship opposite the British Open, certainly is letting his clubs do the talking. Which is really the only voice that should matter.

And that’s the way Hall is leaving it for the time being.

The subject is quite obviously a sore one. He is playing some of the best golf among those who likely will be the dozen that Luke Donald takes to Bethpage in Farmingdale, N.Y. But he is ranked 23rd on the European points list, meaning he’ll need a pick from Donald to make the team. When he was asked about the Ryder Cup after his visit to the media interview area, Hall barely let the words, “Ryder Cup” fall on his ears before he responded tersely, “No, I don’t want to talk about the Ryder Cup.”

Surely, he must have some thoughts. He most definitely has some thoughts. But silence only filled the air on a follow up query. Which says a lot.

What can only be surmised from such reticence is that he knows he is a long shot for his first Ryder Cup appearance. And there is no point in expressing any frustration with the current state of affairs. That doesn’t help his cause. It doesn’t help Donald or Europe, either.

The dark cloud that came over Hall’s face was a far cry from the smiling player who moments earlier chatted about shooting 64. We get it.

Much of the European team is presumably safe on the roster, with perhaps one, maybe two, spots still up in the air. If Hall is among the contenders, his Thursday performance should help, though the man most likely on Donald’s radar is Justin Rose, a hero at Medinah and considered the integral to Europe’s victory in Rome two years ago when he was chosen winner of the Nicklaus-Jacklin Award. Rose, 45, has played for Europe six times and is ranked 20th in the world. Hall is No. 69.

Aaron Rai, ranked 31st, could be vulnerable. He, too, would be a rookie, and hasn’t been as sharp of late as Hall, notwithstanding the T-5 he just posted at the Wyndham Championship.

Rai was still on the golf course and was one under through nine. Rose, meanwhile equaled Hall’s opening round with his own 64.