U.S. Presidents Cup bubble watch: Wyndham Clark surges toward Presidents Cup team spot

With one round to go at the BMW Championship, only 54-hole leader Wyndham Clark is projected to vault into the top 6 to make the U.S. Presidents Cup team. Clark, who shot 65 on Saturday at Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, started the week at No. 7 in the points standings and on the outside looking in but is projected to leap to third. In doing so, he would bump Ben Griffin out of the top 6. But there's still a lot that can happen on Sunday in determining the six automatic qualifiers that will make up half of the 12-man squad of U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Brandt Snedeker.

“I'm playing my hardest to try to get one of those last six spots,” Clark said earlier this week. “I would prefer to be an automatic qualifier because I don't want to leave it up to chance. So, that's definitely on my mind a little bit.”

Clark isn't the only one thinking about securing his position on the team. Collin Morikawa was projected to slip to eighth after the second round but shot 67 on Saturday to sit sixth in the BMW and is projected to hang on to the sixth and final automatic qualifying spot by 22.941 points. But he'll have to fend off Chris Gotterup, who is T-4 in the championship after a 68 and could still make a run at the title and additional points to leap past Morikawa.

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The only American currently projected to be bounced from the right side of the cutoff to having to sweat out hope for a captain’s pick is Ben Griffin, who was chosen for the U.S.  Ryder Cup  team last year. He said he’s in the same spot as a year ago just with more experience.

“I can put as much pressure on myself as I want to with that and think about all the things I’m playing for in a week or I can focus on trying to win the golf tournament I’m playing in in the present,” he said. “I try to do that as much as possible. Sure, are there Presidents Cup implications every round I play? Yeah, but it’s not going to be life or death for me if I don’t make that team. If I play well enough to reward myself with some of those opportunities, then it’s going to be amazing. And if not, it just means some other good players that are playing well and will play well for America.”

Another player who is still in the hunt for the top six is J.J. Spaun, who took a step backwards on Saturday with a 2-over 72. He's T-8 and likely needs another low round such as the 64 he shot on Thursday.

“I would definitely like to take a little stress off Sneds' plate by playing really well and earning my spot, but we all know that we’re not entitled to anything, so I just need to go out and take care of my business on the course,” he said earlier this week. “I would love to just earn my way and not have to be on the chopping block for a pick.”

Here's a closer look at the projected points around the bubble to make the top six automatic qualifiers heading into Sunday's final round.

Presidents Cup standings bubble watch:

Player Projected (start of week) Points ahead Russell Henley 5 (4) +451.196 Collin Morikawa 6 (6) --- Chris Gotterup 7 (8) -22.941 Ben Griffin 8 (5) -297.500 J.J. Spaun 9 (10) -345.606

Adam Schupak  is a senior writer for Golfweek, covering the

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: U.S. Presidents Cup bubble watch: Wyndham Clark surges toward Presidents Cup team spot

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