LIV Golf: The six players chosen by Trevor Immelman, captain of the International Team, to complete his lineup for this month’s Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow, including five debutants.
Immelman was only supposed to have four captain’s picks for the biennial competition, but two extra picks were given to him after two of the automatic qualifiers, Open winner Cameron Smith and Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, decided to join LIV Golf after the FedExCup season ended.
Smith and Niemann, along with the other LIV Golf members who were also punished by the PGA Tour for joining the breakaway circuit, were ineligible to play in the Presidents Cup, which constrained Immelman’s options for rounding out the International Team lineup.
Si Woo Kim, who participated in the record-breaking loss to Team USA in 2017, will make his second Presidents Cup appearance, and fellow countryman K.H. Lee, who successfully defended his AT&T Byron Nelson title earlier this season, has been chosen to make his first.
The remaining four players selected were Canadian Taylor Pendrith, Australian Cam Davis, Colombian Sebastian Munoz, and a player from South Africa named Christiaan Bezuidenhout. This means that eight of Immelman’s 12-member lineup will be making their debuts.
The automatic qualifiers included Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott, both former Masters champions, as well as Mito Pereira of Chile, Joohyung (Tom) Kim of South Korea, and Corey Conners of Canada.
After a close 16-14 victory in Australia in 2019, Team USA is the defending Presidents Cup champion. The International Team has won just one of the previous 13 editions, while the hosts are aiming for a record-breaking ninth straight victory.
The 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐬 joining us at Quail Hollow 👊#IntlTeam #PresidentsCup pic.twitter.com/32kD2RbmlO
— Presidents Cup International Team (@IntlTeam) September 6, 2022
“We understand exactly the mountain that we have in front of us: Possibly the best American team ever assembled if you look at them on paper with their accomplishments and what their world rankings are,” Immelman said.
“I don’t really think I have to play the underdog role up. I think everybody knows it. Everybody sees it clear as day. Our team has had a lot of adversity thrown at us over the last year or so. But adversity makes you stronger.
“You know, the underdog role is there. Everybody sees it. We’ll carry that with pride. We’ll be representing underdogs all over the world in every facet of life, whether it be business or sport or kids at school. We’ll be out there representing all the underdogs trying to make them proud.”
