Jockeying for final captain’s pick adds intrigue at TOUR Championship

ATLANTA – J.T. Poston was on nobody’s radar to make the U.S. Presidents Cup Team that will take on the International Team at Quail Hollow Club, Sept. 21-25.

RELATED: Picking Will Zalatoris' Presidents Cup replacement

It was late June, and he’d just missed the cut at the RBC Canadian Open and was 111th in the FedExCup. He’d struggled since going bogey-free at the 2019 Wyndham Championship to capture his first PGA TOUR win in his native North Carolina. He was trying to be too perfect, and while his putting was as good as ever, his tee-to-green game had suffered.

Fast forward to today and Poston is playing in his first TOUR Championship, where he shot an opening 65 Thursday. After a series of strong performances highlighted by a win at the John Deere Classic and T2 at the Travelers Championship, he not only made it to East Lake, but he is also up to 14th in the U.S. Presidents Cup points list. And, yes, he is in the conversation to get one of the six captain’s picks that will be announced by U.S. Captain Davis Love on Monday.

“I love Quail Hollow,” Poston said after making four birdies, an eagle, and a bogey Thursday. “I’m a North Carolina guy, and the Wells Fargo is one of my favorite tournaments of the year. I hope it works out that I can be on that team.

“I know Davis has got a tough decision to make,” he added. “We’ll see what happens.”

The situation is this: Six players have already made the U.S. team automatically: FedExCup leader Scottie Scheffler, Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau.

It was assumed that Love would simply go to the next six players on the list to make his six captain’s picks, a process that would bring in Will Zalatoris, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa, Max Homa, Billy Horschel, and Cameron Young. But when Zalatoris pulled out of the TOUR Championship with a back injury, and his agent said he would be unavailable for the Presidents Cup, it complicated things for Captain Love, who now will need to go outside the top 12.

Tom Hoge is 13th on the list and shot an opening 66 at the TOUR Championship.

“A lot,” Hoge said of how much he’s thought about the Presidents Cup. “I mean, I've never really been in this position before, and certainly don't know how many more times in my career I'll be right on the edge of making one of these teams.

“I've really tried to play well and maybe put too much pressure on myself the last few weeks,” he added, “but I guess it's simple at this point, just go and try to play well and that takes care of itself.”

Scott Stallings, 18th on the U.S. points list, shot even par in his first-ever round at the TOUR Championship.

Sahith Theegala is 30th on the list but the rookie has accrued his Presidents Cup points in just one season, where others had three. He’s also a crowd favorite. Alas, he did himself no favors with a 1-over 71 in the first round.

Aaron Wise, 21st on the U.S. list, has excelled at Quail Hollow (T9 last year, T2 in 2018) and shot an opening 65 at East Lake.

“Funny enough, with (East Lake) being my favorite course, Quail Hollow is probably second,” Wise said. “It would be super sweet to go there. I think I've played three times, and I've never finished worse than like 15th. It's a course I play really well at. Hopefully I can play my way on to that team because I feel like I could really help the team if I got there.”

Kevin Kisner is 15th on the U.S. points list, and while he didn’t make the TOUR Championship, he might be the favorite to get the last pick. He’s already played in the Presidents Cup and is a match play bulldog, having won the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and finished second to Scheffler in Austin earlier this season.

Poston could perhaps most dramatically change the narrative; to say he has turned things around would be an understatement. Since winning the Deere and playing in his first Open Championship (MC), he has racked up T11 (3M Open), T21 (Wyndham Championship), and T20 (FedEx St. Jude Championship) finishes to punch his ticket to East Lake.

“I’ve approached it like I don’t have anything to lose,” he said. “I don’t think anybody was expecting me to be in the conversation to make this team until the last two months, so I’ve kind of taken that in stride and approached it with the mindset of trying to put together solid score after solid score, try to beat these guys, and make the decision as tough on Davis as possible.

“He’s been a great mentor to me,” Poston added, “and I’ve had a few texts back and forth with him, and that’s kind of been his advice is don’t worry about the points – Presidents Cup points, FedExCup points – and all the extra stuff, just play good golf.”

So far, so good. Three rounds remain at the TOUR Championship.