Time dwindling to qualify for Presidents Cup

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There are only 12 weeks remaining to earn an automatic spot on either the U.S. or International Teams for the 2009 Presidents Cup to be played Oct. 8-11 at Harding Park GC in San Francisco.

The top 10 U.S. players on the points list will qualify for the team, while the top 10 International players will qualify based upon their standing on the Official World Golf Ranking. The automatic qualifiers will be decided on Aug. 16, following the PGA Championship.

U.S. Team Captain Fred Couples and International Team Captain Greg Norman will each make two Captain's choices on Sept. 8 to round out the sides for the eighth Presidents Cup.

Mickelson

If the teams were final today, the U.S. team would feature seven veterans of the competition: Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods, Kenny Perry, Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker, Justin Leonard and Jim Furyk, along with three newcomers to the event -- Sean O'Hair, Anthony Kim and Nick Watney.

The veterans on the team have a combined Presidents Cup record of 57-55-14.

For Captain's picks, Couples would have a variety of options. He could select veterans like three-time Presidents Cup competitors Stewart Cink and David Toms, or six-time member Davis Love III. Love, by the way, has the most wins in Presidents Cup history with 16.

Or he could go with youth and look at second-year TOUR player Dustin Johnson or 27-year old Hunter Mahan who played in both the last Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup competitions.

Ogilvy

The International Team would feature eight veterans of Presidents Cup play: Geoff Ogilvy, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Angel Cabrera, Mike Weir, Retief Goosen, Rory Sabbatini and Tim Clark. Norman's side would have two newcomers: Camilo Villegas and Shingo Katayama.

The veteran members for the International Team have combined over the years to post a 58-53-16 mark.

Captain Norman would also have an interesting array of players to choose from for his two Captains picks. Presidents Cup veterans Robert Allenby, K.J. Choi, Adam Scott and Stuart Appleby are all currently outside the top 10 and would be available.

Norman would also have the option of looking to newcomers to The Presidents Cup like Jeev Milkha Singh or Aaron Baddeley or Stephen Ames.

Combined, the current members of the two teams have won 13 of the first 22 events on the PGA TOUR.

There is still time for the teams to take on a different look from today, but regardless of the eventual makeup of the sides, the competition looks like it will be very close as the U.S. team looks to remain undefeated in America.

Overall, the U.S. side holds a 5-1-1 lead in The Presidents Cup.