Making his first-ever start in the Farmers Insurance Open, Australia’s Adam Scott finished solo second at Torrey Pine, and made the biggest move in the International Team Presidents Cup standings from No 67 to No 11.
A berth in the 2019 Presidents Cup would make Scott the first player to make nine appearances on the International Team, eclipsing Vijay Singh and 2019 Team Captain Ernie Els, who have eight appearances.
In his fourth start of the 2018-19 PGA TOUR Season, Scott’s runner-up finish was his second top 10 and first since he closed with a 63 on Sunday at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES to finish T10 last October. The flat stick proved vital for Scott’s success in San Diego, where the 38-year-old finished 14th in Strokes Gained: Putting, after making a putter switch ahead of the tournament. Scott went on to need just 28 putts in each of his four rounds.
While Scott finished two back of eventual champion Justin Rose, two other International Team veterans cracked the top 5 at Torrey Pines: Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (T3) and Australia’s Jason Day (T5).
A two-time champion at the Farmers Insurance Open, Day book-ended his tournament with matching 67s for his second top-5 finish of the season and a spot inside the top 10 in the International Team Presidents Cup standings, where the four-time International Team member jumped from No 13 to No 9.
Matsuyama vaulted from No 8 to No 4 in the standings after notching up his first top-5 finish of the season as he looks toward a potential fourth appearance on the International Team.
Elsewhere on the leaderboard, Cameron Smith (T9) recorded a 7-under 65 on Sunday to finish with the low round of the day and return to No 2 in the International Team standings.
Marc Leishman remains atop the International Team standings after a T43 finish at the Farmers Insurance Open.
On the US side, Xander Schauffele’s T25 in his hometown event earned him enough FedExCup points to reclaim the top spot from Bryson DeChambeau, who was victorious in Dubai on the European Tour.
The top 15 players in the International and US Presidents Cup Team Standings as of January 2019 are:
INTERNATIONAL
Rank Player Country Points
1. Marc Leishman Australia 104.20
1. Marc Leishman Australia 104.20
2. Cameron Smith Australia 82.71
3. Louis Oosthuizen South Africa 81.03
4. Hideki Matsuyama Japan 72.10
5. Abraham Ancer Mexico 71.15
6. Haotong Li China 59.57
7. Shugo Imahira Japan 54.17
8. Shaun Norris South Africa 52.96
9. Jason Day Australia 51.38
10. Emiliano Grillo Argentina 51.21
11. Adam Scott Australia 50.99
12. Jazz Janewattananond Thailand 50.81
13. Adam Hadwin Canada 44.74
14. Lucas Herbert Australia 42.43
15. Yuki Inamori Japan 41.77
UNITED STATES
Rank Player Points
1. Xander Schauffele 4,194
2. Bryson DeChambeau 4,160
3. Justin Thomas 3,934
4. Brooks Koepka 3,591
5. Dustin Johnson 3,470
6. Tony Finau 3,133
7. Gary Woodland 2,997
8. Matt Kuchar 2,979
9. Webb Simpson 2,747
10. Patrick Cantlay 2,697
11. Charles Howell III 2,536
12. Phil Mickelson 2,321
13. Patrick Reed 2,228
14. Andrew Putnam 2,164
15. Bubba Watson 2,126
The Presidents Cup returns to Melbourne, Australia, and The Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time from 9-15 December 2019, when the International Team, led by Captain Els, will take on the US Team, led by Captain Tiger Woods.
