By Rahul Banerji
India’s international golf contingent, particularly the leading lights, are running out of time in the race for qualifying sports to the Internationals team led by Ernie Els for the upcoming Presidents Cup in Melbourne this December.
As per the latest Official Golf World Rankings, Gaganjeet Bhullar is the best ranked of the sizeable Indian group plying its trade on overseas golf courses at 183, three spots ahead of Shubhankar Sharma, both of whom have largely been playing the European Tour.
Anirban Lahiri, currently the only Indian representative on the flagship US PGA Tour has mostly had a forgettable season and sits way back in 257th place.
Only the top eight in the rankings list make the cut as automatic picks on either team. Team USA will be led by Tiger Woods at the competition scheduled at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club from December 9 to 15.
New entrant
According to a PGA Tour media statement meanwhile, Gary Woodland is the newest member of the top eight in the US Presidents Cup standings after he held off two-time defending champion Brooks Koepkato win the US Open by three strokes at Pebble Beach for his fourth career PGA Tour victory and first major title.
The win pushed 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 Tour.
Woodland was already in contention after recording two runner-up results and five other top-10 finishes in 17 starts during the 2018-19 season.
Ambitious goals
“I’ve worked hard my whole life. I’ve been surrounded by amazing people and I always just wanted to be successful,” Woodland was quoted as saying.
Woodland is one of four in the current top eight besides Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Bryson DeChambeau who hope to make their Presidents Cup debuts in 2019. The top eight on either side till August 18 (following the BMW Championship) will officially qualify for the event.
On the move
On the International side, Adam Scott and Louis Oosthuizeneach moved up a place spot in the standings after their shared T7 finish at the US Open. Scott is now third after a stretch of three top-10 finishes in a row, while Oosthuizen recorded his fourth top-10 of the season to move to no. 2.
Marc Leishman of Australia continues to be at the top where he has been since December last year. Leishman’s opening-round 69 proved to be his lowest of the week en route to a T35 result.
Australia are well represented in the team standings with Cameron Smith(7) and Jason Day (8) in the hunt for an automatic qualifier spot.
The top 15 players in the International and U.S. Presidents Cup Team Standings as of June 17 are listed below. Click here for the full Presidents Cup standings.
Rankings: Internationals
Rank Last Week Player Country Points
1. 1 Marc Leishman Australia 156.27
2. 3 Louis Oosthuizen South Africa 150.13
3. 4 Adam Scott Australia 149.17
4. 2 Hideki Matsuyama Japan 142.00
5. 5 Haotong Li China 120.39
6. 6 C.T Pan Chinese Taipei 114.94
7. 7 Cameron Smith Australia 108.58
8. 8 Jason Day Australia 108.49
9. 9 Justin Harding South Africa 102.04
10. 10 Abraham Ancer Mexico 100.49
11. 11 Sung Kang Korea 94.05
12. 13 Jazz Janewattananond Thailand 92.94
13. 12 Shugo Imahira Japan 91.35
14. 14 Sungjae Im Korea 84.28
15. 15 Emiliano Grillo Argentina 83.76
United States
Rank Last Week Player Points
1. 2 Brooks Koepka 6,790
2. 1 Dustin Johnson 6,445
3. 5 Xander Schauffele 5,574
4. 4 Matt Kuchar 5,454
5. 3 Justin Thomas 5,438
6. 6 Patrick Cantlay 4,900
7. 12 Gary Woodland 4,884
8. 7 Bryson DeChambeau 4,585
9. 9 Rickie Fowler 4,334
10. 11 Tony Finau 4,282
11. 10 Webb Simpson 4,058
12. 11 Tiger Woods 3,868
13. 13 Phil Mickelson 3,535
14. 15 Kevin Kisner 3,150
15. 14 Charles Howell III 3,148
Andalucia Masters from today
Meanwhile, the Andalucia Masters tees off on Thursday at the Real Club Valderrama in Spain and will be part of the qualifying series for The Open after the Open de France gave up its three non-exempt players entry into British event.
The €3,000,000 prize purse tournament is part of the European Tour and has increased its prize money by €1,000,000 over the last year.
Shubhankar Sharma, S.S.P. Chawrasia, Shiv Kapur and Gaganjeet Bhullar are all in the fray and two-time Hero Indian Open winner Chawrasia who had a reasonable outing at the BMW International Open in Munich will want better returns now in Spain.
Bhullar who was impressive in the first two rounds at the BMW International including landing his first ace on the European Tour and a sports coupe to boot, will also look to make the most of this opportunity.
Shubhankar on the other hand will have a chance to get a direct entry again to the Open Championship as he did by winning the Joburg Open in 2018 before ending the season as the first Indian to win the rookie of the year title.
The field has a quality look to it including 15-time European Tour winner, defending champion and tournament host Sergio Garcia.
The Andalucia Masters will be broadcast live in India by DSport from Thursday to Sunday from 3:30 pm daily.
Also read: Lahiri books US Open berth with second place finish in qualifier
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I think the failure is mental more than physical inability. Our players could not withstand the mental pressure at international level.