Justin Thomas is on the verge of another US team selection process.
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ATLANTA, Ga. – The United States Presidents Cup squad is half complete.
But what about the other half?
Last week BMW Championship locked in top six qualifiers for US and international teams. After this week Championship tournament they will sort out the other six. We’re used to team selection being a challenging process with no perfect answers – there was a Netflix episode on this very topic a year ago – but given everything else going on in the world of golf, this year’s Presidents Cup selection has flown a bit under the radar.
So let’s go through the locks and big misses on US captain Jim Furyk’s list. Then we’ll end up with everyone in between.
WHO IS IN?
US Presidents Cup Automatic Qualifiers (6)
It is an undeniable advantage that the American team has the two best players in the world Scottie Scheffler AND Xander Schauffele. It doesn’t hurt that they have Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay AND Sahith Theegala rounding out their qualifiers as well. Theegala is the group’s only first-time U.S. team, while Clark has played a Ryder Cup but never a Presidents Cup; the other four have been on American teams for at least the last three years.
WHO’S OUT?
Contingent LIV
This is old news by this point, but it bears repeating: Because the Presidents Cup falls under the PGA Tour umbrella, there will be no LIV golfers competing. While this is likely to hurt the international side more than the US – think Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen – It’s still a little annoying that the American team won’t have it Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson OR Patrick Reed.
The other greats
It is equally strange to me that we will play this Presidents Cup without Jordan Spiethwho has missed just one American team in the past decade and will miss that one as well as he undergoes surgery this offseason. There is also Rickie Fowlerwho like Spieth made last year’s Ryder Cup team but finished well this year out of the spotlight. Cameron Youngwho figured to be a big part of Team USA’s future plans when he joined the team in 2022, was snubbed for Rome and won’t even be seriously considered for the team. And while Will Zalatoris had back-to-back top-15 finishes to end his season, he missed his previous four cuts before and likely hasn’t had a consistent enough season to merit a spot.
WHO IS IN?
Almost the hair
After the dust settled after last week’s BMW Championship, Sam Burns dropped to seventh in the US Presidents Cup standings. He has top-fives in his last two starts and top-15s in seven of his last 10 starts. He will be on this team, as he should be.
Tony Finau finished 8th in that ranking; he was also in the right direction. While you may remember his T3 at the US Open, he has actually finished inside the top 20 in eight of his last nine starts. He will be inside.
The possible ones
Russell Henley is ranked 14th in the world; DataGolf has him even higher at No. 10 — the fifth-best American. He hasn’t missed a cut this season. There’s a reason he’s made it to East Lake, and it’s likely the same reason he’ll make this team: He hits it right, he hits his cuffs close, he’s got a strong short game, and he’s one of the most consistent and reliable players. on the planet.
Keegan Bradley may soon become a kind of player-captain; he would have been a fringe contender before he won the BMW, but now he’s moved up to 10th. You can’t leave last year’s most brutal snub and next year’s Ryder Cup captain on the outside looking in again. Right?!?
Foam chooses
If my math is correct, that leaves two endpoints for a handful of candidates. First there are two boys in the house:
No. 11 Brian Harman (3,887 points) bogeyed the final hole at BMW to finish one spot outside the coveted top 30 heading into East Lake. Now he sits at a precarious 11th, with no hole to make his case despite a solid season that included top-25s in half his starts and just two missed cuts.
No. 12 Max Homa (3,857) posted on Instagram that, even though he lost the tournament championship, he still hopes for a President’s Cup title. If you look at his last two appearances with the team, it seems like a no-brainer: He went 4-0 at Quail Hollow in 2022 and 3-1-1 at Marco Simone; His total of 7.5 points is two more than anyone else. But his recent form might give you pause: He has just one top-20 finish since his T3 at the Masters.
Regarding no. 15 Eric Cole (3263) and no. 16 Denny McCarthy (3,182), neither is in East Lake and neither has past team experience, leaving them with an uphill battle for the team. McCarthy’s hot shooting makes him a compelling candidate and he’s playing well, but neither is likely to get the nod. Which leaves us with…
Five professionals with something to prove
These five guys have qualified for the tournament championship, which means a final audition.
No. 13 Chris Kirk (3,635), who won the Sentry this year and has had a solid but unspectacular season since – his top-10 finish in the BMW was his first since April. He is top of the scoring list, but will likely have to do something special at East Lake to convince the captains that he deserves a spot.
No. 14 Akshay Bhatia (3,619) has had an up-and-down year highlighted by his victory at the Valero Texas Open and back-to-back heavyweights at Travelers and Rocket Mortgage; at 22 he could also be part of the future of the US Ryder Cup team, making him a promising candidate.
No. 17 Billy Horschel (3,159) has become hot at the right time; His T2-T7-T10-T22 finishes the last four weeks have him trending. If you look at the DataGolf rankings, he’s the eighth best American. If you look at the official world golf rankings, he’s 13th best. We will see how the team management sees his season.
No. 18 Tom Hoge (3,086) has had a knack for top finishes in top tournaments this season; he racked up five top-20 finishes in Signature Events. But because he’s not at the top of anyone’s radar, it would probably take a statement finish in East Lake to get him over the line.
No. 19 Justin Thomas (3,081) has us confused, again, about his place on this team. He was No. 15 in the Ryder Cup rankings last season when he won a controversial pick, but he’s also arguably one of the emotional leaders of the American team. It’s not clear he’s done enough to earn another nod; he hasn’t driven it particularly well and has struggled with a poor shot. But as the last man on the field at East Lake, he has one more chance to prove he’s worthy of that spot.
So who’s in? If I had to pick two names from the final seven, I would land on Homa and Bhatia, with an eye towards the excellence of Homa’s team and Bhatia’s potential for the future. Still, I can be persuaded by Thomas breaking into a fight this week. The only thing that is clear is that nothing is clear, so the team leadership is left with a difficult job and no correct answers.
In a week we will know where they landed.
