Presidents Cup Captain’s Picks Early Power Rankings: Team USA
By Sam Belden
This year’s Presidents Cup won’t be contested until early October, but we’re just about a month away from finding out the 24 players who will be teeing it up in the biennial exhibition. Most of them will be determined via the Presidents Cup points standings, which will be fluid until September 7. The very next day, however, Team USA captain Jay Haas and Team International captain Nick Price will have important decisions to make. They get to determine the final four players in the competition, two on each side: their captain’s picks.
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While the eventual captain’s picks won’t have played their way onto their respective teams, they can still be extremely high-profile players and have a big impact on the competition. Two years ago, for example, American skipper Fred Couples selected a 20-year-old by the name of Jordan Spieth–perhaps you’ve heard of him–as his second captain’s pick, and the Texan promptly helped his team earn two points against the world’s top internationals.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be keeping track of the best bets to earn a captain’s pick for the Presidents Cup. We’ll start off with the American side. Currently, the top 10 in the points standings are Spieth, Bubba Watson, Jimmy Walker, Zach Johnson, Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler, Chris Kirk and Matt Kuchar (you can check out the full standings right here). If the qualifying period ended today, that would be Team USA’s roster. Now, that will likely change–most glaringly, Kirk hasn’t played since injuring his wrist shortly after the U.S. Open, and he won’t return until the Barclays later this month.
I’ve determined this list based on both current form and on season-long excellence, as well as match play experience. Now, let’s go ten deep and take a look at the best Americans outside of the Presidents Cup bubble. The player’s current points rank is listed next to his name.
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