New Orleans points of disenchantment for Smith

CAMERON Smith has vowed to brush aside a cruel flaw in the Presidents Cup team selection criteria and blitz his way into the Internationals side.

The 23-year-old Australian bagged a maiden US PGA Tour victory at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans in April, but the teams event did not carry world ranking points.

While the Presidents team is decided by a two-year composition of FedEx Cup points, the Internationals includes the top-10 golfers on the world rankings not eligible for the Ryder Cup.

Opposing captains Steve Stricker (Presidents) and Nick Price (Internationals) will also select two captain’s picks for their 12-man teams. World ranking points for Tour events are calculated from the strength of the field, and Smith could have fetched 46 in New Orleans given Jason Day, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth were among the big guns at TPC Louisiana.

The Brisbane native would have climbed to world No.74 and 17th on the Internationals team standings but, with some lacklustre results since, has sunk to 44th on Price’s list.

“It’s a bit of a downer that it doesn’t count towards anything. A big goal for me this season was to play my first Presidents Cup,” Smith said.

“But I’ll absolutely give the PGA Championship and the playoffs my best crack to get myself up the standings.”

PGA Tour senior vicepresident Tyler Dennis has assured Smith that Price will take the Zurich Classic into account when deciding his captain’s picks, to be announced on September 6.

“There was constant dialogue with Nick . . . with two captain’s picks, he’s aware he has to assess a larger picture, which included monitoring the Zurich Classic results,” said Dennis.

Geoff Ogilvy, one of Price’s assistant captains for the September 26 event in New Jersey, sympathises with Smith.

“It is one of those weird aberrations in the set-up that’s not really right,” Ogilvy said.

But 2006 US Open winner and three-time Internationals player urged Smith to prove himself at the US PGA and FedEx Cup playoffs.