While Justin Thomas was battling for his fifth win of the season yesterday in Boston, there was another, arguably more nerve-racking, battle going on much further down the leaderboard.
Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman were battling for the final Presidents Cup automatic qualifying spot, with Chappell getting the 10th and final spot on the roster by fractions of a point. Hoffman had held the finals spot on the U.S. list coming into this week.
“I was nervous and excited and unaware of what was going on. It’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, but I’ve also had to make a 4-footer to keep my job, and that was way worse,” Chappell said. “As a competitor, you want to accomplish these things and accomplish these goals. If I’m lucky enough to do that, it would be quite an honor.”
Both Chappell and Hoffman finished with 4,369 points, but thanks to Russell Henley making bogey on two of his final three holes and Kevin Streelman making birdie at 18, Chappell came out ahead.
The top 10 automatic qualifiers for the American Presidents Cup team are Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed, Matt Kuchar, and Chappell.
For Hoffman, he will now have to wait until Wednesday to see if he gets selected by Steve Stricker as one of the two captains picks.