Immelman has big shoes to fill as Presidents Cup captain

Trevor Immelman of South Africa has big shoes to fill as the next International captain for the Presidents Cup, and that goes beyond a figure of speech.

Immelman was introduced Tuesday as the seventh player — and third South African — to be captain of a team cobbled together from every country outside the U.S. and Europe. His task is a big one. The International team has won only once since the matches began in 1994, and the Americans have won the last eight times.

He replaces Ernie Els, who brought a new identity to the International team by creating a new shield, relying heavily on analytics and making 12 players from nine countries feel like a team.

There’s also the physical side — the Big Easy is 6-foot-4 and has a big presence.

“Everybody is going to come with their own spin on it and try and leave their own mark on it to where you really can get the players to perform their best,” Immelman said in a conference call. “But I thought what Ernie did really well was when he spoke, he said things that were really impactful.

“He’s not always a man of many words,” he said. “But when he came into the team room, first of all, the size of him, the aura and presence that he comes in with is something the whole team could feel. We could feel his intensity. We could feel his emotion. We could feel how badly that he wanted to turn this thing around . ... Those are literally and figuratively massive shoes for me to fill.”

Immelman, a former Masters champion, played on two teams, under Gary Player in 2005, which came down to the final match, and in 2007 in Canada, which was another easy time for the Americans.

The International team nearly ended the drought in December at Royal Melbourne, building a lead from the opening session until Tiger Woods as a player and captain led the Americans back from a two-point deficit for a 16-14 victory.

The 2021 matches are scheduled for Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Americans have yet to announce their captain, with Zach Johnson thought to be the favorite.

Immelman was captain of the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup in New Jersey in 2017, and Els picked him as one of his assistant captains for Royal Melbourne. The other assistants were K.J. Choi of South Korea, Mike Weir of Canada and Geoff Ogilvy of Australia. Weir is likely to be captain for the 2023 matches if they go to Royal Montreal as expected.

“Trevor was an invaluable member of our team and completely bought into what we were trying to do at Royal Melbourne, so it is gratifying to see him take this next step and lead the International Team,” Els said.