The 2017 Presidents Cup is still three weeks away, but on Monday evening, most of the United States and International teams were confirmed. Players could start earning points towards this team in September of 2015, and now 10 of 12 spots on each roster are set based on automatic qualifying. Here's who has made the cut for both teams.
— Dustin Johnson
— Jordan Spieth
— Justin Thomas
— Rickie Fowler
— Daniel Berger
— Brooks Koepka
— Kevin Kisner
— Patrick Reed
— Matt Kuchar
— Kevin Chappell
After nearly two years of qualifying, Kevin Chappell secured the final automatic spot by the narrowest of margins over Charley Hoffman.
— Hideki Matsuyama
— Jason Day
— Adam Scott
— Louis Oosthuizen
— Charl Schwartzel
— Marc Leishman
— Branden Grace
— Jhonattan Vegas
— Si Woo Kim
— Adam Hadwin
Unlike the Ryder Cup against their counterparts from Europe, Presidents Cup success has been almost exclusively an American luxury. In the short history of the Presidents Cup, the U.S. has taken the title 9 of 11 times. The International team (comprised of players from non-European countries) won its lone title in 1998, and the teams tied in 2003.
On paper, the American team is heavily favored once again. The ten players who have qualified have combined to win 18 times this season, including the last three majors of the season and the first two Fed Ex Cup Playoff victories. However, there are four players (Thomas, Berger, Kisner, Chappell) who will be totally new to team competition, and it's no guarantee that they'll all find success right out of the gate.
Additionally, the International team isn't that far behind in terms of talent. Half of their automatic qualifiers have won on tour this season, and four of their top 5 points earners are past major champions. Should the Americans not be on their game, the International squad is more than capable of seizing control and running away with this. The talent gap is not that wide.
The U.S. and International team captains (Steve Stricker and Nick Price, respectively) still have two more roster spots to fill. Those captain's picks will be announced on Wednesday. There are several candidates on both sides to fill those spots, but almost all of the attention will be on the decision surrounding Phil Mickelson. Lefty's disappointing season left himself outside of the automatic spots and, until last week at the Dell Technologies Championship, hadn't shown good form since June. Now with his recent top-1o finish paired with his strong leadership qualities in these team events, he's likely a lock to get one of the remaining spots, but we'll see. We'll find out for sure very soon.
The Presidents Cup takes place at Liberty National GC in Jersey City, NJ from September 26th-October 1st.
