Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele lead U.S. Presidents Cup team as automatic qualification ends

Posted by Admin August 25, 2024 Golf

The Presidents Cup teams are halfway built.

The automatic qualification period for both the United States and International teams for the Presidents Cup ended on Sunday afternoon after the BMW Championship. Just like it was for the Ryder Cup, the top six golfers on each side in either the FedEx Cup standings or the Official World Golf Rankings earned an automatic bid for their teams. Then, after the Tour Championship ends next weekend, the two team captains will make their six selections to round out the 12-men teams.

Scottie Scheffler led the way on the U.S. side, which was based off of FedEx Cup points. Scheffler won six times on Tour this season and won a gold medal at the Olympics earlier this month. He’ll start at 10-under with a two-shot advantage at the Tour Championship. Xander Schauffele finished in second for the United States. He won both the PGA Championship and the British Open this season, which doubled his career major championship win total.

Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala earned the final four automatic spots for the United States.

Hideki Matsuyama led the way in qualification for the international team. Matsuyama, who withdrew from the BMW Championship due to a back injury, won twice on Tour this season — including at the FedEx St. Jude Championship to start the playoffs. South Korean golfers Tom Kim, Sungjae Im and Ben An also earned spots, as did Australians Jason Day and Adam Scott.

Team captains Jim Furyk and Mike Weir will officially announce their captain’s picks on Sept. 3.

The Presidents Cup is set to start on Sept. 26 at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Quebec, Canada. The biennial competition between American golfers and non-European international golfers runs opposite of the Ryder Cup. The United States team has won the last nine events and holds a 12-1-1 all time record. Their only loss came in 1998.