International Team captain Geoff Ogilvy has picked South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout among his captain's picks for this year's Presidents Cup.
US Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker opted for raw talent over experience by naming 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun among three debutants as he announced his final line-up on Tuesday.
The event pitting a dozen American golfers against an international team from the rest of the world – excluding Europe – will take place from 24 to 27 September at Medinah Country Club, near Chicago.
READ | Tiger Woods avoids jail with guilty plea after DUI car crash
World number one Scottie Scheffler had already automatically qualified for the US based on season rankings, along with Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa.
Snedeker used one of his six remaining picks on world 70th-ranked Koivun, the recent amateur champion who fended off Scheffler at the 3M Open in July to claim victory in just his third PGA Tour event as a professional.
Chris Gotterup and Jacob Bridgeman will also make their debuts. Snedeker’s final picks were Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas.
Notable omissions included last year’s US Open champion JJ Spaun, and 2025 Ryder Cup pick Ben Griffin, while LIV Golf stars like Bryson DeChambeau were not eligible.
International Team captain Geoff Ogilvy will draw on fellow Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee, who qualified automatically.
So too did South Korea’s Kim Si-woo and Tom Kim, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, and this year’s British Open winner Ryan Fox, from New Zealand.
Ogilvy also picked two Canadians – Corey Connors and Nick Taylor – along with South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Colombia’s Nico Echavarria, Japan’s Ryo Hisatsune and South Korea’s Im Sung-jae.
As is customary for the president of the host nation, Donald Trump will serve as honorary chairman for the tournament.
“I look forward to being there, and greeting all of these fantastic athletes, on both teams,” Trump posted on social media last weekend.
The US dominates the Presidents Cup. It has won the last 10 editions, and 13 of the 15 to date.
Europe is excluded because the continent already takes on the US in the longer-running and traditionally more competitive Ryder Cup.
The formats of the two competitions are largely similar, featuring various types of matchplay golf, though the Presidents Cup takes place over four days while the Ryder Cup runs for just three.
By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
