Abraham Ancer’s finish at The Northern Trust locked up a spot on the International Presidents Cup team, meaning he’ll be the first-ever player from Mexico to participate in the biennial matches.
Ancer holed a 7-foot par putt on the final green to finish the week at 15 under, alone in second place and one shot behind Patrick Reed. After starting the week 10th in the International team standings, he moved all the way up to fifth and is now assured of staying inside the top-8 cutoff after this week’s BMW Championship.
“I didn’t want to leave it to a decision. I wanted to lock it in,” Ancer told reporters. “That was one of my main, main goals for this year. That is something that is going to be an experience that I will never, never forget.”
Born in Texas, Ancer holds dual citizenship and represents Mexico in international competitions. He’ll bring some relevant experience to Royal Melbourne, having won the Australian Open and finished second at the World Cup last year.
Joining Ancer on Ernie Els’ international team will be Marc Leishman, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama. The final three spots remain in flux entering the final week of qualification, with Haotong Li, Cameron Smith and C.T. Pan currently Nos. 6-8. Jason Day dropped two spots to ninth and is currently outside the bubble, along with Jazz Janewattananond (10th), Sungjae Im (12th), Si Woo Kim (16th), Emiliano Grillo (19th) and Kiradech Aphibarnrat (20th).
The top eight qualifiers for the U.S. team will also be finalized this week, with both Els and U.S. captain Tiger Woods rounding out their respective rosters with four picks later this year. The Presidents Cup will be held Dec. 12-15 at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.