New Thai No 1 Jazz hits low note in battle to make International Team
With four weeks to go, the race to be named among the top 16 players who will contest the 2019 Presidents Cup is heating up. Australia’s Cameron Smith climbed back into the provisional International Team after his 20th-place at the Open saw him jump two spots from No 10 to No 8, while Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond slipped from eighth to ninth after missing the cut in the same tournament.
Jazz rose to No 53 in the world this week, surpassing Kiradech Aphibarnrat who fell to No 54 in the world. The Thai young gun overtook the No 1 position in Thailand for the first time in his career.
The Presidents Cup will return to the Royal Melbourne Golf Club for the third time from December 9-15, when the International Team, led by Ernie Els, will take on the US Team led by Tiger Woods.
It was a timely return to form for Smith, who recorded his first top-25 finish on the PGA Tour since February. Smith placed himself in contention for his first Presidents Cup appearance after his successful title defence at the Australian PGA Championship in early December lifted the 25-year-old to No 2 in the International Team standings.
“That was one of my goals this year. That was one of my top things [to qualify],” Smith said. “Obviously I had a good run there when I started taking the rankings and kind of fell out through the middle there, but my game is coming back around.”
In the field for this week’s WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational, Smith is also planning to play in next week’s Wyndham Championship before competing in the FedExCup Playoffs. The Aussie has given himself four more opportunities to secure a team place prior to the August 18 deadline.
Smith is one of four Australians currently qualified among the top eight, joining Marc Leishman (No 1), Adam Scott (No 4) and Jason Day (No 7).
Those just outside the top eight and vying for a Presidents Cup place this week include Justin Harding (No 11), Shugo Imahira (No 12), Sung Kang (No 14) and Corey Conners (No 19).
Jazz Janewattananond (No 9) and Abraham Ancer (No 10) are not in the St Jude field this week.
On the US Team, captain Woods missed the cut at the Open in his first start in four weeks but remains at No 12 in the standings. With Woods planning to rest two more weeks prior to the FedExCup Playoffs, the first-time captain will have two more tournaments to play his way inside the top eight.
The top-eight US team players are all in action this week, along with Tony Finau, who grabbed the No 9 position following a third-place finish at the Open. Finau switched spots with Rickie Fowler (No 10), who also enjoyed a successful week at Royal Portrush with a sixth-place finish but is taking this week off.
Brooks Koepka cemented his position as US team standings leader with his fourth place at the Open.
