Australians have taken large strides up the latest Presidents Cup standings after the first substantial tournament of the US PGA Tour season.
While Victorian Marc Leishman extended his lead atop the standings with his own T43 finish, bold showings at Torrey Pines from Queensland trio Cameron Smith, Jason Day and runner-up Adam Scott moved them well up the batting order.
The top eight on the rankings through the US PGA Tour Championship in August will automatically be part of the Presidents Cup's International team when the biennial tournament returns to Royal Melbourne later this year.
For the first time this year, Ernie Els will then have the responsibility of making four "captain's picks" to round out the team of 12 to take on the United States from 12-15 December.
Smith's superb closing 65 near San Diego lifted him to T9, enough to go past South African Louis Oosthuizen into second on the rankings.
Jason Day's second top-five finish of the young season has vaulted him from No.13 to No.9 on the standings, while Scott was the big mover after his second place at Torrey, climbing from No.67 all the way to No.11.
If he plays this summer, Scott would become the first International player to have competed in nine Presidents Cups, breaking the tie for eight he currently shares with captain Els and Vijay Singh.
Rising Victorian Lucas Herbert rode his top-10 finish in Dubai on the European Tour to remain 14th in the standings, just two points behind Canadian Adam Hadwin, who was runner-up the previous week on the US PGA Tour.
On the American side, Xander Schauffele’s T25 in California earnt him enough FedExCup points to reclaim the top spot from Bryson DeChambeau, who was victorious in Dubai on the European Tour.
Current standings:
INTERNATIONAL
1. Marc Leishman (Aus) 104.20
2. Cameron Smith (Aus) 82.71
3. Louis Oosthuizen (SAf) 81.03
4. Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 72.10
5. Abraham Ancer (Mex) 71.15
6. Haotong Li (Chn) 59.57
7. Shugo Imahira (Jpn) 54.17
8. Shaun Norris (SAf) 52.96
9. Jason Day (Aus) 51.38
10. Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 51.21
11. Adam Scott (Aus) 50.99
12. Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 50.81
13. Adam Hadwin (Can) 44.74
14. Lucas Herbert (Aus) 42.43
15. Yuki Inamori (Jpn) 41.77
UNITED STATES
1. Xander Schauffele 4,194
2. Bryson DeChambeau 4,160
3. Justin Thomas 3,934
4. Brooks Koepka 3,591
5. Dustin Johnson 3,470
6. Tony Finau 3,133
7. Gary Woodland 2,997
8. Matt Kuchar 2,979
9. Webb Simpson 2,747
10. Patrick Cantlay 2,697
11. Charles Howell III 2,536
12. Phil Mickelson 2,321
13. Patrick Reed 2,228
14. Andrew Putnam 2,164
15. Bubba Watson 2,126