June 06, 2019: Eight-time Presidents Cup participant Adam Scott is in position to make an International Team record ninth appearance after leaping seven spots to No. 4 on the International Team standings with a runner-up finish at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide over the weekend. On the U.S. Team standings, Patrick Cantlay proved unbeatable at Muirfield Village Golf Club with a final-round 64 to capture his second career PGA TOUR victory and jump from No. 9 to No. 6.
The Presidents Cup will return to Melbourne, Australia and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time, December 9-15, 2019, when the International Team, led by Captain Ernie Els, will take on the U.S. Team led by Captain Tiger Woods.
The runner-up finish was Scott’s second of the season and represented his fifth top-10 result in 12 starts. Scott, 38, has competed in every Presidents Cup since 2003 and has been an automatic qualifier each time except 2009, when he was one of two captain’s picks for Greg Norman’s team.
“I feel good. For sure, everything I’ve been doing is moving in the right direction,” Scott said.
The last time the Presidents Cup was contested at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 2011, Scott recorded a 2-3 record.
“The biggest thing I’d love is for this to be a home game as far as the crowd is concerned, favouritism if you would,” Scott said in the Golf Australia Inside the Ropes podcast last week. “That will help us out tremendously. If we can just somehow make [the U.S. Team] feel a little bit uncomfortable, that’d be really good.”
Elsewhere on the International Team standings, Marc Leishman remains in the No. 1 spot with a solo-fifth result at the Memorial, which marks his first top-10 finish in a stroke-play event on the PGA TOUR since February. Just behind him in solo sixth, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama moved up one position to No. 2 in the standings. It was a timely return to form for the three-time Presidents Cup participant, who collected his first top-10 finish since THE PLAYERS Championship in March.
Matsuyama is one of three Asian golfers currently inside the top 8 to make automatic qualification for the International Team. China’s Haotong Li is ranked fifth while Chinese Taipei’s C.T. Pan, who won his first PGA TOUR title in April, is sixth. Both are aiming to become the first golfers from China and Chinese Taipei to play in the Presidents Cup.
Four other Asians – South Korea’s Sung Kang (11th), Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond (12th), Shugo Imahira of Japan (14th) and Si Woo Kim of South Korea (15th) – currently feature within the top 15 of the International Team standings.
In total, four Aussies are in position for one of the eight automatic qualifying spots that will be distributed on 19 August. Leishman (No. 1), Scott(No. 4), Cameron Smith (No. 7), and Jason Day (No. 8) are all hoping for the opportunity to compete on home soil, with Smith in search of his Presidents Cup debut. Since the inception of the Presidents Cup in 1994, no less than three Australians have competed in a single Presidents Cup.
While Scott hopes to bring a plethora of experience to the International Team, Patrick Cantlay is one step closer to qualifying for his first Presidents Cup team after the 27-year-old won the Memorial Tournament in comeback fashion to join the coveted top 8 at No. 6 in the standings.
Cantlay’s win is the highlight of an already stellar season marked by eight top-10 finishes in 14 starts, which includes a runner-up at the Shriners Hospitals of Children Open – the site of his maiden PGA TOUR victory – and a T3 finish at the PGA Championship.
At the previous week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, Kevin Na moved into Presidents Cup contention by claiming his third PGA TOUR title and vaulting from No. 36 to No. 17 in the standings. Having competed full time on the PGA TOUR since 2004, Na is looking to represent the United States for the first time in a team event.
The top 5 in the U.S. Team standings remained unchanged, with Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka occupying the top two spots, respectively, followed by Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele and Matt Kuchar.
Following a missed cut at the PGA Championship, U.S. Captain Woods got back on track with a T9 finish at the Memorial Tournament highlighted by a final-round 67. Woods’ fourth top-10 finish in his eighth start of the season moved him one spot up in the standings to No. 10.
With his third consecutive top-10 result, Jordan Spieth moved five more spots in the standings to No. 28. Spieth owns an overall Presidents Cup record of 8-5-1 and is a perfect 5-0-0 in the Foursomes format.
Junior Presidents Cup
The second edition of the Junior Presidents Cup will take place on Sunday, December 8 and Monday, December 9 at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club, with 24 of the world’s top junior players, excluding Europe, competing in the newest Presidents Cup tradition that was launched in 2017. Australia’s Stuart Appleby will captain the International Team while Justin Leonard will lead the U.S. Team.
Australia’s Karl Vilips, who was a member of the 2017 team, leading the International Team standings. Vilips is one of two Aussies in the top 12 of the standings and is joined by Joshua Greer (No. 11). At No. 2 in the standings, Wilco Nienaber is the one of seven South Africans who are currently in position to qualify.
The U.S. Team will be made up of the leading 12 qualified players based on the Rolex AJGA Rankings as of September 5, 2019. The International Team will be made up of the leading 12 qualified players based on the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR™) as of September 5, 2019.
International Team eligibility criteria
The top eight (8) international players (excluding those eligible for the European Ryder Cup team) from the Presidents Cup International Team Points List which shall be Official World Golf Ranking points accumulated in the time period from August 27, 2018 (Dell Technologies Championship) through August 18, 2019 (BMW Championship).
Four Captain’s selections will be made at a to-be-determined later date.
U.S. Team eligibility criteria
The top eight (8) U.S. PGA TOUR members who have earned the most FedExCup points from September 11, 2017 (2017 BMW Championship) through 2019 BMW Championship, weighted as follows:
(a) 2017 BMW Championship through 2018 TOUR Championship: 1 FedExCup point = 1 point
(b) First event of the 2018-2019 season through 2019 BMW Championship: 1 FedExCup point = 2 points
Four Captain’s selections will be made at a to-be-determined later date.
PGA tour Release
