Presidents Cup teams taking shape

With less than a week remaining before the automatic berths for the Presidents Cup are finalized, the two top players in the points standings for the U.S. team—Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth—went head to head in a sudden-death playoff at The Northern Trust, with Johnson posting a birdie on the first playoff hole to win the first of four FedExCup Playoffs events. With 1,100 points earned from his fourth victory of the season, Johnson holds a commanding lead of the top position for the U.S. team, with a total of 10,353 points.

The top-10 players for both the U.S. and International teams through this week’s Dell Technologies Championship outside Boston, the second event in the FedExCup Playoffs, will earn automatic berths on their respective teams, while two additional captains’ picks will be announced for each side two days later, on September 6.

There was very little movement in the standings for either team following The Northern Trust. Jhonattan Vegas of Venezuela tied for third, thanks to a closing 65 to move from ninth to eighth in the International team standings, exchanging positions with Si Woo Kim of South Korea. Others with top-10 performances for the Internationals were Australia’s Jason Day (tied for sixth) and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen (tied for 10th).

Despite a missed cut at The Northern Trust, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama continues to lead the International team standings, followed by Day and Adam Scott, also of Australia.

Four U.S. players currently in the top-10 of the Presidents Cup standings finished among the top 10 at The Northern Trust: Johnson, Spieth, Justin Thomas (tied for sixth) and Matt Kuchar (10th). Kevin Chappell, currently No. 11, tied for sixth in New York and is just 23 points behind No. 10 Charley Hoffman.

Five players currently in the top 10 for the U.S. team would be considered Presidents Cup rookies: Hoffman, Thomas, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka and Kevin Kisner.

Attendance at the 2017 Presidents Cup at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey, will be capped at 25,000 per day to enhance the overall fan experience. In addition to grounds tickets, a limited number of weekly Captains’ Club packages, an upgraded public ticket offering located on the ninth green with views of both the ninth green and signature par-3 10th hole, are still available, as are Tuesday and Wednesday Practice Round Captains’ Club tickets. Daily competition-day tickets for The Captains’ Club are sold out.

The Presidents Cup, a team match play competition featuring 24 of the world’s top golfers—12 from the United States and 12 from around the world, excluding Europe—is held every two years, and since 1996 has alternated between United States and international venues. The Presidents Cup was developed to give the world’s best non-European players an opportunity to compete in international team match-play competition. The U.S. team has won nine of the 11 previous Presidents Cups, and the only outright win by the International team came at the 1998 event in Melbourne. A historic 17-17 tie came in 2003 when the event was held in South Africa.

(Photo and story courtesy of the PGA Tour)

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