Cameron Smith started the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational on the fringes of automatic qualification, but is now likely to be one of four Australians automatically booked into the Internationals team for the 2019 Presidents Cup.
Smith finished T12 in Memphis to move from No 8 to 6 as Melbourne’s Royal Melbourne Golf Club prepares to host the team event from 9-15 December.
The Australian, who was also inside the top 25 at The Open, is ranked 75th in the FedExCup but in good form as he looks to dip five places lower in order to qualify for the BMW Championship.
‘I feel like my game is coming back to where it needs to be,’ Smith said. ‘I feel really confident with my putter and typically when I feel good with my putter, the rest of my game just kind of comes around.’
Captain Ernie Els will be buoyed by the fanatical home support with Marc Leishman (1), Adam Scott (4), Smith (6) and Jason Day (7) ready to take their place in his 12-man lineup.
The Big Easy, though, has just one countryman, Louis Oosthuizen, signed up for familiarity with Justin Harding hovering in 11th place.
Branden Grace is ranked 89th in the FedExCup and 23rd on the Presidents Cup list, one above Dylan Frittelli (on track to make the second playoff event) with Erik van Rooyen in 21st place.
Internationals team stalwart Charl Schwartzel has been ruled out through injury.
The final regular season event – the Wyndham Championship – will see Abraham Ancer (No 10), Kiradech Aphibarnrat (No 18), Corey Conners (No 17), Adam Hadwin (No 15) and Sungjae Im (No 13) in action as they prepare for a late dash at the top eight.
The top 15 players in the International and US Presidents Cup Team Standings as of 29 July, 2019 are listed below:
INTERNATIONAL
1. 1 Marc Leishman Australia 188.22
