Gary Woodland is the newest member of the coveted top 8 in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings after he held off two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka to win the U.S. Open by three strokes at Pebble Beach Golf Links for his fourth career PGA TOUR victory and first major title.
The win vaulted Woodland from No. 12 to No. 7 in the standings as he looks to represent the United States in the Presidents Cup for the first time in his 11-year career on the PGA TOUR.
The Presidents Cup will return to Melbourne, Australia and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time, December 9-15, 2019, when the International Team, led by Captain Ernie Els, will take on the U.S. Team led by Captain Tiger Woods.
Prior to the win, Woodland was already in contention for a Presidents Cup bid after recording two runner-up results and five other top-10 finishes in 17 starts during the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season. The victory was Woodland’s first since the 2018 Waste Management Phoenix Open.
“I’ve worked hard my whole life. I’ve been surrounded by amazing people and I always just wanted to be successful,” Woodland said. “I didn’t know what it was, what I was going to do. I fell in love with golf, and it’s transcended to today.”
Woodland is one of four players in the current top 8 (Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Bryson DeChambeau) who are hopeful to make their Presidents Cup debuts in 2019. The top 8 on both teams through Aug. 18 (following the BMW Championship) will officially qualify for the Presidents Cup.
Elsewhere on the U.S. Team standings, Brooks Koepka claimed the No. 1 spot after falling just short of winning a historic third consecutive U.S. Open. Koepka traded places in the standings with good friend and former Presidents Cup partner Dustin Johnson, who finished T35 at Pebble Beach to drop to second in the standings.
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Schauffele is one step closer to booking his first trip to a Presidents Cup after a T3 finish moved him from No. 5 to No. 3 in the standings. The 2017 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year has quietly delivered an impressive season highlighted by two quality wins at the WGC-HSBC Champions and Sentry Tournament of Champions as well as a T2 at the Masters. In three career U.S. Open starts, Schauffele has finished T5-T6-T3.
U.S. Captain Woods carded a 2-under 69 on Sunday for his lowest round of the week to finish T21 but fell one spot in the standings to No. 12.
On the International Team, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizen each moved up one spot in the standings after both Presidents Cup veterans shared T7 results at the U.S. Open. Scott now sits at No. 3 in the standings after he continued a successful stretch of three top-10 finishes in a row, while Oosthuizen recorded his fourth top-10 of the season to move to No. 2 in the standings.
The top of the International Team standings is still controlled by Marc Leishman, who has held the No. 1 spot since December 2018. Leishman’s opening-round 69 proved to be his lowest of the week en route to a T35 result.
Australia is still well represented among the top 8 in the International Team standings with Cameron Smith (No. 7) and Jason Day (No. 8) firmly in the hunt for an automatic qualifier spot. Day finished a respectable T21 at the U.S. Open after announcing Steve Williams as his new caddie to begin the week. Williams is known for his time spent caddying for both Woods and Scott.
The top 15 players in the International and U.S. Presidents Cup Team Standings as of June 17, 2019 are listed below. Click here for the full Presidents Cup standings.
NTERNATIONAL
Rank Last Week Player Country Points
1. 1 Marc Leishman Australia 156.27
- 3 Louis Oosthuizen South Africa 150.13
- 4 Adam Scott Australia 149.17
- 2 Hideki Matsuyama Japan 142.00
- 5 Haotong Li China 120.39
- 6 C.T Pan Chinese Taipei 114.94
- 7 Cameron Smith Australia 108.58
- 8 Jason Day Australia 108.49
- 9 Justin Harding South Africa 102.04
- 10 Abraham Ancer Mexico 100.49
- 11 Sung Kang Korea 94.05
- 13 Jazz Janewattananond Thailand 92.94
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- 2 Brooks Koepka 6,790
- 1 Dustin Johnson 6,445
- 5 Xander Schauffele 5,574
- 4 Matt Kuchar 5,454
- 3 Justin Thomas 5,438
- 6 Patrick Cantlay 4,900
- 12 Gary Woodland 4,884
- 7 Bryson DeChambeau 4,585
- 9 Rickie Fowler 4,334
- 11 Tony Finau 4,282
- 10 Webb Simpson 4,058
- 11 Tiger Woods 3,868
- 13 Phil Mickelson 3,535
- 15 Kevin Kisner 3,150
- 14 Charles Howell III 3,148
- 12 Shugo Imahira Japan 91.35
- 14 Sungjae Im Korea 84.28
- 15 Emiliano Grillo Argentina 83.76
UNITED STATES
Rank Last Week Player Points
- 2 Brooks Koepka 6,790
- 1 Dustin Johnson 6,445
- 5 Xander Schauffele 5,574
- 4 Matt Kuchar 5,454
- 3 Justin Thomas 5,438
- 6 Patrick Cantlay 4,900
- 12 Gary Woodland 4,884
- 7 Bryson DeChambeau 4,585
- 9 Rickie Fowler 4,334
- 11 Tony Finau 4,282
- 10 Webb Simpson 4,058
- 11 Tiger Woods 3,868
- 13 Phil Mickelson 3,535
- 15 Kevin Kisner 3,150
- 14 Charles Howell III 3,148
