CHASKA, Minn. - U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover needed a birdie over the final three holes to secure a spot on the Presidents Cup team, and he knew it. He finished with a bogey, instead, and now has to wait.
"I've played well," Glover said after a 74 to finish fifth at the PGA Championship. "All I can do is play well. It's out of my hands."
The top 10 players for the U.S. and International teams were set Sunday after the final major of the year, and there was no movement for the American side, from Tiger Woods at the top to Justin Leonard holding down the final spot.
Y.E. Yang became the first Asian-born player to win a major, a victory that earned him a spot on his first Presidents Cup team.
The matches will be Oct. 8-11 at Harding Park in San Francisco. The Americans have never lost a home game, and they have not lost the Presidents Cup against the International team - players from everywhere in the world except Europe - since 1998.
U.S. captain Fred Couples and International captain Greg Norman will announce two picks on Sept. 8, which gives players three more tournaments to state their case.
The American team consists of Woods, Phil Mickelson, Steve Stricker, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Stewart Cink, Sean O'Hair, Anthony Kim and Leonard. O'Hair and Kim will be making their Presidents Cup debut, although Kim starred in the Ryder Cup last year.
The U.S. list was based on PGA Tour earnings the last two years, with the dollar doubled for 2009.
The International team is based on the world ranking.
Yang was No. 110 in the world going into the PGA Championship, and his victory should move him into the top 35. He knocked out Rory Sabbatini of South Africa.
The International team has Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas, Retief Goosen, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Canada's Mike Weir, Robert Allenby, Yang and Tim Clark.
Villegas and Yang will be playing for the first time.
It would be rare to leave off the U.S. team a player who not only won the U.S. Open, but contended in the PGA Championship until finishing fifth. He likely will move to No. 15 in the world.
However, Couples told Golf Channel's website earlier this week that Hunter Mahan, who tied for 16th, would be one of his picks. Mahan has five top 10s this year, although his lone PGA Tour victory came two years ago.
"I'll be watching Lucas closely," Couples said. "The way he's played, I think he's in great shape."
That would leave out Brian Gay, who has won twice this year. And if another player - Nick Watney or Dustin Johnson - wins in the next two weeks, that would give them two PGA Tour victories this year.
Glover and Mahan were captain's picks for the 2007 team that won at Royal Montreal.
Norman has not indicated whom he might select for his two captain's picks. Among those who fell out of the top 10 this year is Adam Scott, mired in the worst slump of his career.
Yang, OHair to get first President Cup experience
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Published on
August 17, 2009
- Published on January 3, 2010
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The Associated Press ~ staff The News
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