Presidents Cup standings update: Smith re-joins top eight

With four weeks remaining until the top-eight players on each team officially qualify for the 2019 Presidents Cup, Cameron Smith re-joined the top eight in the International Team standings after a T20 finish at The Open Championship elevated the Queenslander two spots from No.10 to No.8.

The Presidents Cup will return to Melbourne, Australia and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time, December 9-15, 2019, when the International Team, led by Captain Ernie Els, will take on the US Team led by Captain Tiger Woods.

It was a timely return to form for Smith, who recorded his first finish inside the top 20 on the PGA Tour since February when he earned a T6 result at the WGC-Mexico Championship. Smith has been firmly in contention for his first Presidents Cup appearance since his successful title defence at the Australian PGA Championship in early December lifted the 25-year-old to No.2 in the International Team standings.

“That was one of my goals this year. That was one of my top things [to qualify],” Smith said. “Obviously I had a good run there when I started taking the rankings and kind of fell out through the middle there, but my game is coming back around.”

RIGHT: Smith finished T20th at Royal Portrush last week. PHOTO: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

In the field for this week’s WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Smith is also planning to play in next week’s Wyndham Championship before competing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. With his position on the bubble to grab one of the automatic qualifying spots, Smith is electing to give himself four more opportunities to secure his position prior to the Aug. 18 deadline.

Smith is one of four Aussies currently qualified among the top eight, joining Marc Leishman (No.1), Adam Scott (No.4) and Jason Day (No.7).

With the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational being a limited-field event, only a handful of Internationals outside the top eight will have the opportunity to make a move in the standings with a strong finish. Those just outside the top eight in Memphis this week include: Justin Harding (No.11), Shugo Imahira (No.12), Sung Kang (No.14) and Corey Conners (No.19).

Jazz Janewattananond (No.9) and Abraham Ancer (No.10) are not in the field this week.

On the US Team, US Captain Woods missed the cut at The Open in his first start in four weeks but remains at No.12 in the standings. With Woods planning to rest two more weeks prior to the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the first-time captain will have two more tournaments to play his way inside the top eight.

The top-eight players on the US Team standings are in action this week as well as Tony Finau, who grabbed the No.9 position following a third-place finish at The Open. Finau switched spots with Rickie Fowler (No.10), who also enjoyed a successful week at Royal Portrush with a T6 finish but is taking this week off.

Brooks Koepka continues to secure his position at the US Team standings leader following a T4 finish at The Open.

INTERNATIONAL

Rank Last Week Player Country Points
1. 1 Marc Leishman Australia 159.42

2. 2 Louis Oosthuizen South Africa 159.02

3. 3 Hideki Matsuyama Japan 153.00

4. 4 Adam Scott Australia 149.17

5. 5 Haotong Li China 124.07

6. 6 C.T Pan Chinese Taipei 117.03

7. 7 Jason Day Australia 116.61

8. 10 Cameron Smith Australia 116.17

9. 8 Jazz Janewattananond Thailand 111.54

10. 9 Abraham Ancer Mexico 111.45