NORTON, Mass. -- In the end, the battle for the 10th and final automatic spot on the United States Presidents Cup team between Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman was decided by decimal points ... and Kevin Streelman.
If that sounds like a wild way for Chappell to qualify for his first-career U.S. team, well, it really was.
Here's how it all went down at the Dell Technologies Championship on Monday afternoon: Hoffman, who entered this week at No. 10 on the points list, finished a few hours earlier than Chappell, posting a 3-under 68. For most of his round, Chappell remained above Hoffman on the projected standings, always a few points higher based on his placement on the tournament leaderboard.
Then he bogeyed the 18th hole.
Later admitting that he was "nervous and excited and unaware of what was going on," Chappell hit his drive on the par-5 final hole into a bunker, laid up short of the green, then hit a wedge that came up 30 yards short.
When he missed a 10-foot par attempt, Chappell was still projected 10th on the points list -- for about a minute. When playing partner Lucas Glover rolled in his birdie putt, Chappell flipped spots with Hoffman, trailing him by a point instead. They jockeyed position for a little while afterward, despite both players having already concluded their rounds.
In the end, Streelman needed a birdie on the final hole, which would push Hoffman down one more spot on the leaderboard, losing a fraction of a point but enough to render Chappell the final automatic bid.
In fact, the final point total read: Chappell 4,369, Hoffman 4,369. The qualification came down to a matter of decimal points, ones that didn't even show up on the PGA Tour's computers that were projecting the standings, but in the end, Chappell made the team by a mere 0.23 points.
"It's been a range of emotions," Chappell said once it was confirmed that he was officially on the roster. "It's a great feeling, and my emotions move toward getting ready to win the Presidents Cup for Team USA."
Hoffman, who is ranked 22nd in the world and owns a half-dozen top-10 results this season, still has a chance to make his first team competition.
U.S. captain Steve Stricker will make two wild-card selections on Wednesday to fill out his 12-man roster. While Phil Mickelson, who has played on every U.S. team since 1994, is expected to receive one of these picks, Hoffman should be very much in the running for the other one.
The other nine players who qualified for the U.S. team are: Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Rickie Fowler, Daniel Berger, Brooks Koepka, Kevin Kisner, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar.
The 10 automatic bids on the International team, captained once again by Nick Price, became official when the Official World Golf Ranking was released Monday night. The squad will include: Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Marc Leishman, Branden Grace, Jhonattan Vegas, Si Woo Kim and Adam Hadwin.
Price will add two additional wild-card picks on Wednesday.
The Presidents Cup will be contested Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 at Liberty National in Jersey City, New Jersey.