Could Jordan Spieth make the Presidents Cup team?
PGA Tour

Could Jordan Spieth make the Presidents Cup team?

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In his first full season on the PGA Tour, 19-year-old Jordan Spieth has a win, six top-10 finishes, is ranked 59th in the Official World Golf Ranking and has banked $2 million in earnings.

What else is there left for the Texan to do? Win a major? Maybe. The FedEx Cup? Sure. But how about making the Presidents Cup team?

With his win on Sunday at the John Deere Classic, Spieth moved up to 37th in the points standings for Fred Couples' team at Muirfield Village in October. The top 10 players automatically make the team. So why speculate about Spieth's chances if he has 27 golfers between him and a guaranteed place on the team?

Consider the ground Spieth has made up this year. Last year, American players earned one point for every PGA Tour dollar earned. Spieth banked exactly $0 last year. So he was already behind the proverbial 8-ball.

This year, however, every dollar made on the PGA Tour earns two points. Spieth now has a little over 4 million points, leaving him about 3.5 million points, or $1.75 million, from the No. 10 spot, currently held by Bubba Watson.

The prospect of Spieth making the Presidents Cup team wasn't realistic before he won at TPC Deere Run on Sunday to become the first teen to win a PGA Tour-recognized event in 82 years. With that win, Spieth's schedule opens up for the rest of the year. He's in the last two majors, the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and, since he is already 11th in FedEx Cup points, likely all four Playoff events. In other words, he has all the opportunities at earning big (and, in some cases, guaranteed) money that most of his peers in front of him in the Presidents Cup standings have.

There's a long way to go, but with the cutoff for the top 10 coming after the Deutsche Bank Championship -- the second Playoff event -- Spieth has ample time to continue his meteoric rise all the way to representing the U.S. at Jack's place against the Internationals.

About the author

Ryan Ballengee

Ryan Ballengee is founder and editor of Golf News Net. He has been writing and broadcasting about golf for nearly 20 years. Ballengee lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his family. He is a scratch golfer...sometimes.

Ballengee can be reached by email at ryan[at]thegolfnewsnet.com

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