Justin Thomas is on the edge of another U.S. team selection process.
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ATLANTA, Ga. — The United States Presidents Cup team is half-complete.
But how ’bout the other half?
Last week’s BMW Championship locked in the top six qualifiers for both the U.S. and International teams. After this week’s Tour Championship they’ll 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 subject a year ago — but given everything else going on in the golf world, this year’s Presidents Cup selection has flown slightly under the radar.
So let’s buzz through the locks and the big-timers missing out on U.S. captain Jim Furyk’s roster. Then we’ll finish with everyone in between.
WHO’S IN?
U.S. Presidents Cup automatic qualifiers (6)
It’s an undeniable advantage that the U.S. team has the top two players in the world in 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, either. Theegala is the only first-time U.S. teamer of the bunch, while Clark has played a Ryder Cup but never a Presidents Cup; the other four have been a part of U.S. teams at least the last three years.
WHO’S OUT?
The LIV contingent
This is old news by this point but bears repeating: Because the Presidents Cup falls under the umbrella of the PGA Tour, there won’t be LIV golfers competing. While this likely hurts the International side more than the U.S. — think Joaquin Niemann, Cameron Smith, Louis Oosthuizen — it’s still a bit jarring that the U.S. team won’t have Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson or Patrick Reed.
The other big-timers
It’s just as strange to me that we’ll be playing this Presidents Cup without Jordan Spieth, who has only missed one U.S. team in the last decade and will miss this one, too, as he heads to surgery this offseason. There’s also Rickie Fowler, who like Spieth made last year’s Ryder Cup team but finished well outside consideration this year. Cameron Young, who 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 this side. And while Will Zalatoris had back-to-back top-15 finishes to end his season, he missed his previous four cuts before then and likely hasn’t had a consistent enough season to merit a spot.
WHO’S IN?
The almost-locks
Once the dust settled following last week’s BMW Championship, Sam Burns was left in seventh place in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings. He has top-fives in his last two starts and top-15s in seven of his last 10 starts. He’ll be on this team, as he should be.
Tony Finau finished No. 8 in those standings; he too has been trending in the right direction. While you may remember his T3 at the U.S. Open he’s actually finished inside the top 20 in eight of his last nine starts. He’ll be in.
The probables
Russell Henley is No. 14 in the world ranking; 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 straight, he hits his irons close, he has a strong short game and he’s one of the most consistent, most reliable golfers on the planet.
Keegan Bradley could soon be a player-captain of some sort; he would have been a fringe candidate before winning the BMW but now he’s jumped to No. 10. You can’t leave last year’s most brutal snub and next year’s Ryder Cup captain on the outside looking in again. Right?!?
The chalk picks
If my math is correct that leaves two final spots for a handful of contenders. First there are two guys at home:
No. 11 Brian Harman (3,887 points) double-bogeyed the last hole at the BMW to finish one spot outside the coveted top 30 that headed to East Lake. Now he sits in a precarious 11th, with no holes left 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 his missed the Tour Championship, he’s still hoping for a Presidents Cup nod. If you look at his last two team appearances, that seems like a no-brainer: he went 4-0 at Quail Hollow in 2022 and 3-1-1 at Marco Simone; his 7.5 point total is two points clear of anyone else. But his recent form could give you pause: He has just one top-20 finish since his T3 at the Masters.
With respect to No. 15 Eric Cole (3,263) and No. 16 Denny McCarthy (3,182), neither is at East Lake and neither has past team experience, leaving them with an uphill battle to the team. McCarthy’s hot putter makes him a compelling candidate and he’s playing well but it’s unlikely either will get the nod. Which leaves us with…
Five pros with something left to prove
These five guys have qualified for the Tour Championship, which means one final audition.
No. 13 Chris Kirk (3,635), who won this year’s Sentry and has had a solid but unspectacular season since — his top-10 finish at the BMW was his first since April. He’s the highest on the points list but would likely need to do something special at East Lake to convince the captains he deserves a spot.
No. 14 Akshay Bhatia (3,619) has had an up-and-down year highlighted by his win at the Valero Texas Open and back-to-back top-fives at the Travelers and Rocket Mortgage; at 22 years old he could also be part of the U.S. team’s Ryder Cup future, making him a promising candidate.
No. 17 Billy Horschel (3,159) has gotten hot at the right time; his T2-T7-T10-T22 finishes the last four weeks have him trending up. If you look at DataGolf’s rankings he’s the eighth-best eligible American. If you look at the Official World Golf Ranking he’s the 13th-best. We’ll see how team leadership views his season.
No. 18 Tom Hoge (3,086) has had a knack for top finishes at top tournaments this season; he racked up five top-20s in the Signature Events. But because he isn’t at the top of anyone’s radar it would probably take a statement finish at East Lake to get him over the line.
No. 19 Justin Thomas (3,081) has us confused, yet again, about his place on this team. He was No. 15 in the Ryder Cup standings last season when he earned a controversial pick, but he’s also unquestionably one of the U.S. team’s emotional leaders. It’s not clear he’s done enough to earn another nod; he hasn’t driven it particularly well and has struggled with a balky putter. But as the last man into 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 those final seven I’d land on Homa and Bhatia, with an eye towards Homa’s recent team excellence and Bhatia’s potential for the future. Still, I could be convinced by Thomas bursting into contention this week. The only thing clear is that nothing is clear, so team leadership is left with an agonizing job and no right answers.
In a week we’ll know where they’ve landed.
