Presidents Cup team, showing strength heading into summer stretch
 
May. 17, 2007

With only 14 weeks remaining before the final Presidents Cup teams are selected, the teams are starting to take shape. If the present lineup remains intact, a powerhouse lineup of players will be on hand at Royal Montreal the week of Sept. 24-30.

rollins.jpg
John Rollins' strong 2007 season has him on the verge of a Presidents Cup spot. (WireImage)

Of the 20 players who are currently automatic qualifiers through the point systems (10 on each team), 18 are ranked among the Top 25 players on the Official World Golf Ranking.

The International team, captained by Gary Player, currently has all 10 of its players ranked among the Top 25 and the U.S. team, captained by Jack Nicklaus, has eight, including the top three ranked players in the world in Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Jim Furyk. Several of those players, including Woods, are certain of making the final team.

The two teams would feature 10 players who have won a total of 28 major championships?four on the International team (Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Geoff Ogilvy and Retief Goosen) and six (Woods, Furyk, Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Mark Calcavecchia and David Toms) on the U.S. squad.

The current International team lineup features five Aussies, four South Africans and one Fijian, but the potential for other countries to supply players is very strong with 11 nations having players ranked among the Top 30 on the points list. Two Canadians, Stephen Ames and Mike Weir, are currently 13th and 16th, respectively, on the points list.

PRESIDENTS CUP

The U.S. team currently has three players who have never competed before in the Presidents Cup in Johnson, Brett Wetterich and John Rollins while the International side has newcomers Ogilvy and Rory Sabbatini.

Since the event began in 1994, three players have competed in every Presidents Cup. Singh and Mickelson are locks to make their respective sides this year with the third, Davis Love III, currently 15th on the qualifying list having a strong shot at joining them in Canada.

Love, by the way, has won more matches (16) than any player in Presidents Cup history. Singh leads the all-time International list with 12 victories. Overall, current members of the International team have a record of 49-57-13 while the U.S. side has a record of 40-40-13.

The Presidents Cup teams will be finalized on Aug. 13 when the Captains each make two choices to add to the 10 automatic qualifiers. The points lists for both squads end with the playing of the PGA Championship.