Players jockey for final spots in upcoming Presidents Cup
 
Jul. 5, 2007

While the top spots on the International side for the Presidents Cup look to be fairly secure, that isn't necessarily the case for the U.S. team.

With just six weeks left to make either squad, international players are probably competing for just the final few spots on Captain Gary Player's team for the September event at Royal Montreal GC in Canada.

Bart Bryant
A strong showing this week could boost Bart Bryant from 19th place to as high as seventh in the Presidents Cup points. (Chris Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

Players on the International side qualify by virtue of their standing in the Official World Golf Ranking. No. 1 Adam Scott, through No. 8 Trevor Immelman should be secure in nabbing a place on the squad. After that, however, the final two automatic spots and the two Captain's selections are up for grabs.

K.J. Choi (3.82 average on OWGR) and Nick O'Hern (3.51) currently hold down the ninth and 10th places, respectively. Right behind them, though, are Aaron Baddeley (3.19), Stuart Appleby (2.95), Robert Allenby (2.87), Stephen Ames (2.78) and Rod Pampling (2.74), and all are still in contention.

This is especially true with two major championships and a World Golf Championships event remaining on the schedule where significant point increases are possible. Just behind that group and moving up quickly is Shingo Katayama who jumped from 21st place to 18th with his victory last week at the Japan Golf Tour Championship.

Jack Nicklaus' U.S. team is selected via a money list that runs over the course of the two years between each Presidents Cup. Since the money is doubled in the final year, this list is more volatile. While Tiger Woods, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Zach Johnson, Charles Howell III and David Toms are virtual certainties to make the team, the rest of the spots are still very much in play.

The difference between No. 7 Scott Verplank and No. 19 Bart Bryant is just shy of two million points. With four of the remaining events paying more than a million to the winner (two million with the points doubled), dramatic changes are still possible.

Take this week for example. The winner of the AT&T National will earn 2,160,000 points. That could take Bryant from 19th to as high as seventh in just one week. And it would take a player as low as 32nd (Brett Quigley) perhaps as high as the top 10.

Look for a lot of changes to the U.S. team's list as the PGA TOUR's regular season winds to a close.