Els adds two more Presidents Cup rookies to International team with captain’s picks
Ernie Els filled out his International team already loaded with newcomers by choosing two more Presidents Cup rookies with his captain’s picks Wednesday.
Els took a pair of 21-year-old rookies, Joaquin Niemann of Chile and Sungjae Im of South Korea, with two of his picks. That will give the International team six rookies as it tries to end a streak of seven straight losses to the Americans.
He also took Jason Day of Australia and Adam Hadwin of Canada. Day is playing the Presidents Cup for the fifth time, but first as a captain’s pick. Hadwin made his debut in 2017 at Liberty National, a loss so bad the Americans nearly clinched it before Sunday
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Els said he was not afraid to play anyone, and he had no plans to hide anyone by sitting them out.
“I’m picking guys to play, to get enough points to get over the line,” Els said. “And that’s what the players’ mission is — to get enough points to get the cup back.”
U.S. captain Tiger Woods makes his four picks today. Woods, the Masters champion who captured his 82nd career PGA Tour victory two weeks ago in Japan, is expected to pick himself.
The Presidents Cup is Dec. 12-15 at Royal Melbourne in Australia, where the International team of players from every continent but Europe won for the only time in 1998. The United States won the last time it was at Royal Melbourne in 2011.
The rest of the International team features Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen and Marc Leishman, along with Presidents Cup rookies Abraham Ancer of Mexico, Li Haotong of China, Cameron Smith of Australia and C.T. Pan of Taiwan.