Els Makes International Presidents Cup Captain’s Picks
- Updated: November 7, 2019
Twitter/@GolfMonthly
The International captain’s picks are in for the 2019 Presidents Cup. Ernie Els went with a mix of experience and youth when he selected veterans Jason Day Adam Hadwin to go along with young rising stars Sungjae Im and Joaquin Niemann.
“I didn’t go looking for Joaquin who is 20, or Sungjae who is 21, but they made themselves a lock on this team,” Els said. “I definitely wasn’t that good at 20, 21, but these guys are world-class players and they’ve proven themselves. I’m excited by the new blood that’s coming in.”
Welcome to the #IntlTeam @ahadwingolf, @JDayGolf, @joaconiemann and Sungjae Im.
— Ernie Els (@TheBig_Easy) November 7, 2019
Excited to have these guys at the @PresidentsCup in @Melbourne this year! pic.twitter.com/1fv41Rmop3
Chile’s Niemann solidified his spot on the team following his first PGA Tour win at the Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in September. South Korea’s Im won the 2018-19 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year Award.
Australia’s Jason Day will make his fifth appearance for the International squad, while Canada’s Adam Hadwin will make his second appearance.
“I’ve spoken to Jason through the year quite a few times. He absolutely is 100 percent in. He wants to rectify a lot of things, but I told him this isn’t a one-man-show. He’s a world-class player and a player who can play under pressure,” Els said. ‘That’s what we need, players who can play under pressure.”
Day, Hadwin, Im and Niemann join Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Marc Leishman, Abraham Ancer, Haotong Li, CT Pan and Cameron Smith who qualified for Captain Els’ team.
The highest-ranked player on the International squad is Adam Scott at world no. 17 and they will go into the competition as huge underdogs. For perspective, the United States has 7 guys currently ranked in the top 10.
U.S. captain Tiger Woods will announce his four captain’s picks on Thursday evening. Will he pick himself as a playing captain?
The Presidents Cup matches will be held December 12-15 at Royal Melbourne in Australia.
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