ROCHESTER, N.Y. ? Charles Howell III will get his wish to play for his country in the Presidents Cup.

Howell finished tied for 10th in the PGA Championship, locking up his spot on the U.S. team that will travel to South Africa in November to defend the cup.

“Obviously, it was a very big goal of mine to play on that team. Heck, yeah, it’d be awesome!” the 24-year-old said.

While Howell made the team by finishing 10th on the money list, Fred Funk and Bob Estes will have to wait until today to see if Jack Nicklaus takes them as his captain’s picks.

Funk and Estes are on the bubble in 11th and 12th places, but 49-year-old Jay Haas may merit some consideration after his fifth-place finish in the PGA. Chad Campbell moved up to 13th on the list with his second-place finish and would have made the team had he won.

“I can see him picking Jay,” Funk said. “And nobody could have an argument at all.”

Nicklaus and the International team captain, Gary Player, announce their captain’s picks today.

The Presidents Cup is a Ryder Cup-style event that pits players from the United States and an international team with players from everywhere but Europe. The matches are set for Nov. 20-23 at Fancourt, a links-style course on the southwestern coast of South Africa.

Haas moved up three spots to 16th in the rankings with his play, giving Nicklaus something to think about.

“Maybe Captain Jack will look favorably on an old guy, maybe just to give a little balance to the team,” said the nine-time tour winner and a member of the Ryder Cup team in 1983 and 1995. “I guess I don’t expect to be picked, but if I was, it would be just an unbelievable thrill for me.”

Nicklaus said Saturday he didn’t have “a preconceived notion” of who to select.

Estes, who shot 77 Sunday, thinks he’s playing well enough to get picked.

“I’m making some serious strides with my golf game,” he said. “If I thought I was playing the best golf I would ever play and just barely missed, that would be really disappointing. But I know I can play a whole lot better than I’ve even played in the last three years.”

In the International standings, Stuart Appleby of Australia locked up a top-10 slot. K.J. Choi of South Korea is 11th, and Eduardo Romero of Argentina is 12th.