Hazeltine is final chance to qualify on points

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Justin Leonard sits 10th in the U.S. standings.

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- This week's PGA Championship is the last chance for the world's best to join Masters champion Angel Cabrera, U.S. Open Champion Lucas Glover and British Open Champion Stewart Cink as a major champion in 2009, but it's also the last opportunity for The Presidents Cup hopefuls to earn points and automatically qualify for their respective teams.

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U.S. team standings
International team standings

The top 10 players in both the U.S. and International Team standings at the conclusion of play on Sunday earn automatic berths to represent their countries at The Presidents Cup 2009, October 6-11 at Harding Park Golf Course in San Francisco, Calif. U.S. Captain Fred Couples and International Captain Greg Norman will complete their teams with captain's selections announced September 8.

The top of the U.S. standings experienced minimal turnover following the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, with Steve Stricker (No. 3) and Kenny Perry (No. 4) switching places after Stricker finished T6 in Akron. Cink (No. 6), making his first appearance since his triumph at Turnberry last month, and Sean O'Hair (No. 7) exchanged spots as well after Cink recorded a T6 in the event he won in 2004.

The only other player in the top 15 to improve his standing was Hunter Mahan, who moved up one spot from No. 13 to No. 12 on the strength of a T4 at Firestone Country Club. Vying for his second roster spot on a U.S. Presidents Cup Team, Mahan has been one of the hottest players on the PGA TOUR over the last two months, notching top 10s in four of his last five starts.

Currently sitting on the bubble at No. 10 for the U.S. squad is Justin Leonard, a veteran of four U.S. Presidents Cup Teams. Immediately behind Leonard at No. 11 is Brian Gay, a two-time winner in 2009 vying for his first appearance in The Presidents Cup, Mahan (No. 12) and Glover (No. 13). Rounding out the top 15 are Nick Watney (No. 14) and Jerry Kelly (No. 15). With a victory last week at the Legends Reno-Tahoe Open, John Rollins improved 14 spots from No. 33 to No. 19. He will need another top finish this week at the PGA Championship, where the top 20 in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings are all competing, to have a shot at making the team.

On the International side, Captain Greg Norman saw several of his top players produce strong finishes at the Bridgestone Invitational. Cabrera (No. 6), who had not competed in the United States since the U.S. Open, notched a T4 after weekend rounds of 68-67. Australia's Robert Allenby, who played the final 36 holes in 5-under-par, moved inside the top 10 from No. 11 to No. 8 with a T2 at Firestone Country Club. Allenby has competed in four installments of The Presidents Cup, including the inaugural event in 1994. The last time he competed as a member of the International Team was in 2005 at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Va.

Several players who were key contributors to the International squad at Royal Montreal Golf Club in 2007 are in need of a big week at Hazeltine if they hope to earn an automatic spot on the team. Adam Scott (No. 13), Trevor Immelman (No. 17) and K.J. Choi (No. 18) all currently find themselves on the outside looking in. Each of the top-20 players in the International standings are in the field for the PGA Championship as well.

Ten members of the 2009 U.S. Team will be selected based on official earnings from the 2007 Wyndham Championship through the 2009 PGA Championship (with money earned in 2009 counting as double), plus two Captain's selections, which will be announced on Sept. 8. Members of the 2009 International Team will be chosen on the basis of the Official World Golf Ranking through the 2009 PGA Championship, plus two Captain's selections, also announced Sept. 8. The International Team does not include players eligible for the European Ryder Cup Team.

This year marks the first time in The Presidents Cup history that both captains (Couples and Norman) and their captains' assistants (Jay Haas, U.S. Team; Frank Nobilo, International Team) are former participants in The Presidents Cup.

For tickets to the event, visit PresidentsCup.com or call 877-PREZ-TIX (773-9849). For corporate entertainment options, please call 415-566-7287.

The Presidents Cup, a team match play competition featuring 24 of the world's top golfers -- 12 from the United States and 12 from around the world, excluding Europe -- is held every two years, and since 1996 has alternated between United States and international venues. The Presidents Cup was developed to give the world's best non-European players an opportunity to compete in international team match-play competition. The U.S. Team has won five of the seven previous Presidents Cups, and the only outright win by the International Team came at the 1998 event in Melbourne. The 2003 Presidents Cup ended in a tie.