2019 Junior Presidents Cup Team Standings announced

The PGA TOUR and American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) have unveiled the official team standings for the 2019 Junior Presidents Cup, which is set to take place December 8-9, 2019, at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Junior Presidents Cup will precede the 2019 Presidents Cup, which will be contested at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time in the International event’s history later that week.

The Junior Presidents Cup Team Standings include the top 25 eligible players in the running to make their respective teams. The U.S. Team will be made up of the leading 12 qualified players based on the Rolex AJGA Rankings as of Sept. 5, 2019. In the event of a tie for 12th place, the selection will be decided by the individual ranked highest on the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR™) list at that time.

The International Team will be made up of the leading 12 qualified players based on the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR™) as of Sept. 5, 2019. In the event of a tie for 12th place, the selection will be decided by the individual ranked highest on the most recent previous World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR™) revision.

The first version of the team standings has eight different countries representing the International Team: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, New Zealand, India, Korea and South Africa. Seven countries were represented on the 2017 team.

Host country Australia, which fielded three players for the inaugural International Junior Presidents Cup Team in 2017, have two players on the first version of the 2019 team standings – Karl Vilips and Joshua Greer. Vilips, a Stanford commit who resides in Wesley Chapel, Florida, competed on the 2017 team and has enjoyed a successful 2018 highlighted by a win at the AJGA’s Wyndham Invitational presented by BB&T.

Greer, who grew up in the Perth suburb of Connolly, won the 2018 South Australian Junior Masters and finished ninth at the prestigious Major Champions Invitational against some of the world’s top juniors to bolster his position in the International team standings.

Per Junior Presidents Cup eligibility criteria, the host country is guaranteed at least one spot on the International Team. If no players from the host country are ranked as part of the leading 12 qualified players, the final spot will go to the top-ranked qualified player from the host country.

For the United States Team, Wake Forest, North Carolina, native Akshay Bhatia leads the team standings in search of his second appearance in the Junior Presidents Cup after delivering a perfect 3-0 performance at Plainfield Country Club in 2017. Bhatia has spent 17 consecutive weeks atop the Rolex AJGA Rankings after a successful 2018 where he was named Rolex Junior Player of the Year by the AJGA after wins at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley Golf Club, the Polo Junior Golf Classic and Boys Junior PGA Championship.

Bhatia also advanced to the final of the U.S. Junior Amateur at Baltusrol Golf Club before falling 1-down to Michael Thorbjornsen of Wellesley, Massachusetts, who currently sits second in the Junior Presidents Cup Team Standings behind Bhatia.

The United States Team defeated the International Team by a score of 14-10 in the inaugural event in 2017 at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey.

The current top 12 players for each team are listed below: