The rosters for the United States and International teams in the Presidents Cup next month began to firm up Sunday with the six automatic qualifiers on both sides being locked in place.
On the American side, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala clinched their spots for the September 26-29 matches at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada.
The six International qualifiers for captain Mike Weir’s team are Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An.
Both sides will announce their captain’s picks on September 3, two days after the conclusion of the FedEx Cup playoffs.
The most intriguing move on the American side was made by BMW Championship winner Keegan Bradley, who surged into the 10th spot on the Presidents Cup list. Already announced as one of Jim Furyk’s vice captains, Bradley now has the distinct possibility of being added as a player.
Asked immediately after his victory Sunday at Castle Pines Golf Club if he had played his way onto the Presidents Cup roster, Bradley said, “I don't know. I don't know. Geez, I don't know. But I'm proud of the way we played today.”
Tony Finau, Russell Henley, Max Homa, Brian Harman, Sam Burns, Akshay Bhatia, Chris Kirk, Eric Cole and Denny McCarthy are in the running for the six spots.
Canadians Corey Conners, Nick Taylor, Adam Hadwin, Taylor Pendrith and Mackenzie Hughes are among the top 15 in the International team points standings and could give Weir some local flavor in Montreal.
Japan’s Shigeki Maruyama was named a vice captain for the International team that will play the Americans next month in the Presidents Cup in Canada, captain Mike Weir announced. Maruyama compiled a 6-2-0 record in two Presidents Cups, notably going 5-0-0 in the 1998 matches at Royal Melbourne, the site of a 20½-11½ rout by the Internationals. It was their only triumph in a series led by the Americans, 12-1-1. Maruyama will join Ernie Els, Trevor Immelman, Geoff Ogilvy and Camilo Villegas on Weir staff for the biennial matches, to be played September 26-29 at Royal Montreal Golf Club. READ MORE
Two players who are assured spots in this week’s Tour Championship were uncertain for the big-money season finale after having withdrawn from last week’s BMW Championship, with both citing back pain.
Hideki Matsuyama, who opened with a 5-under 67 at Castle Pines in Colorado, withdrew while warming up for the second round after complaining of lower-back pain. Matsuyama, who won the FedEx St. Jude Championship one week earlier to open the three-event playoff series following his bronze-medal performance at the Paris Olympics, entered the BMW at No. 3 in the points standings and No. 6 in the Official World Golf Ranking. The 32-year-old Japanese had withdrawn from tournaments five times over the previous three seasons because of back issues.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre, a two-time winner this year who entered the BMW at No. 12 in the season race, withdrew 24 hours after Matsuyama, citing similar pain. He was 2-over on the front nine Saturday and 1-over for the tournament when he withdrew midway through his third round. His status for this week in Atlanta also is unknown. READ MORE and MORE
Nelly Korda, a six-time winner this season and the world’s top-ranked woman, leads the seven qualifiers for the U.S. Solheim Cup team, the LPGA announced Sunday evening.
Korda will be joined by (in order of ranking on the Solheim Cup standings) Lilia Vu, Lauren Coughlin, Ally Ewing, Allisen Corpuz, Megan Khang and Andrea Lee. Rose Zhang and Alison Lee also won spots as the highest-ranked Americans in the Rolex Rankings who were not among the seven qualifiers from the points list. Captain Stacy Lewis is scheduled to announce her three at-large selections at 10 a.m. EDT Tuesday.
Europe also announced eight qualifiers. England’s Charley Hull and Germany’s Esther Henseleit made it from the LET points list, and France’s Céline Boutier, Swedes Maja Stark, Linn Grant and Madelene Samström, Ireland’s Leona Maguire and Spain’s Carlota Ciganda made it from the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. The European team will be finalized today when captain Suzann Pettersen reveals her four at-large selections on Sky Sports at 4 p.m. BST (11 a.m. in the eastern U.S.).
The biennial match against Europe’s top females will be played September 13-15 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. READ MORE and MORE
The AIG Women’s Open paid a tournament-record $9.5 million purse last week, including $1.425 million to winner Lydia Ko, the R&A announced, ranking the tournament third among the women’s tours’ five major championships. In 2018, the year before American Insurance Group became the title sponsor, the former Women’s British Open paid $3.25 million. The USGA’s U.S. Women’s Open led the women’s game with a $12 million prize fund this year (with $2.4 million to winner Yuka Saso), followed by the PGA of America’s KPMG Women’s PGA at $10.4 million ($1.56 million to Amy Yang). The other two women’s major championships: Amundi Evian Championship ($8 million, of which $1.2 million went to winner Ayaka Furue) and the Chevron Championship ($7.9 million, with $1.2 million to winner Nelly Korda). READ MORE
American Nelly Korda was unable to pull out a victory at the AIG Women’s Open, fading into a tie for second Sunday at St. Andrews’ Old Course, but she will leave Scotland with a consolation prize: the Rolex Annika Major Award for the best overall record in the LPGA’s five major championships. Korda, 26, won the Chevron Championship in April for an LPGA record-tying fifth consecutive triumph in what would become a six-victory season. Although she missed the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open and the KPMG Women’s PGA, she tied for 26th at the Amundi Evian Championship and added a co-runner-up at the AIG Women’s Open to emerge with the most cumulative points in the women’s majors. READ MORE
With a report that LIV Golf has reached a deal with sports agency CAA for media and sponsorship, speculation has grown that a deal could be imminent with the PGA Tour.
After all, CAA also represents the PGA Tour in media and sponsorship negotiations. But nothing to advance the stunning “framework agreement” between Saudi-funded LIV and the PGA Tour is happening, sources have told GGP, after a report by Front Office Sports about the LIV-CAA deal. READ MORE
Compiled by Ron Green Jr. and Steve Harmon