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The Internationals: statistics and profiles for the home side at Royal Melbourne

Captain Ernie Els must introduce seven rookies into Presidents Cup combat

Louis Oosthuizen is a proven Majors performer
Louis Oosthuizen finished runner-up in the Australian Open on SundayCredit: Ezra Shaw

The Internationals

Management
Ernie Els – Captain
KJ Choi – Vice-captain
Geoff Ogilvy – Vice-captain
Trevor Immelman – Vice-captain
Mike Weir – Vice-captain

Players (age, world ranking, previous Presidents Cup appearances, matches, W-L-H record)

Marc Leishman – 36, 28, 3, 13, 3-7-3

The Australian led the Presidents Cup qualification standings, but is winless since the CIMB Classic in October, 2018. Tenth place in the Aussie Open last week was a decent warm-up spin. World Cup partner, Cameron Smith, seems his likely sidekick.

Hideki Matsuyama – 27, 21, 3, 13, 4-6-3

The Japanese has been playing consistently well, posting top-20 finishes in seven of his last eight tournaments, but his last victory came in the 2017 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.

Louis Oosthuizen – 37, 20, 3, 15, 7-5-3

The South African overcame kidney stones to contend in the Nedbank Challenge last month, before finishing runner-up in the Australian Open last week.

Adam Scott – 39, 18, 8, 39, 14-20-5

The only member of the Internationals to have competed previously in a Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne, having won two points from five matches in the 2011 edition.

Abraham Ancer – 28, 39, rookie

The accurate Mexican is one of seven rookies on the Internationals team. He won the Australian Open last year and was fourth in the WGC-HSBC Champions last month.

Haotong Li – 24, 65, rookie

A runner-up in his home China Tour Championship last time out, but Li has spent seven months struggling in higher grades and goes into his Presidents Cup debut low on confidence.

C.T. Pan – 28, 64, rookie

The Taiwanese 28-year-old won his maiden PGA Tour title in the Heritage at the end of April, but has failed to impress since and looks a weak link in the home side.

Cameron Smith – 26, 52, rookie

The Australian has won a pairs event on the PGA Tour and two Australian PGA Championships, but has posted only one top-ten finish anywhere in the last nine months. Likely to partner Leishman.

Sungjae Im – 21, 36, rookie

The Korean was PGA Tour Rookie of the Year last season, consistently appearing on leaderboards without winning. He tied for 11th in the WGC-HSBC last time out.

Byeong-Hun An – 28, 42, rookie

The Korean was handed a late call-up from Ernie Els when Jason Day withdrew from the Cup injured. A bright PGA Tour Asian Swing suggests An could be an asset, maybe alongside Im.

Adam Hadwin – 32, 48, 1, 3, 0-2-1

The Canadian made his Cup debut in the last edition, but failed to win any matches. He has won only once on the PGA Tour (March, 2017) and recent results (2-4-41-46-68) indicate a form dip.

Joaquin Niemann – 21, 56, rookie

The 21-year-old Chilean won The Greenbrier by six shots in September, an emphatic PGA Tour breakthrough, but has been inconsistent since and is ill-suited to Royal Melbourne.

NB: players are in order of Presidents Cup qualifying points lists, with captains' picks at the bottom


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Steve PalmerRacing Post Sport

Published on 10 December 2019inGolf tips

Last updated 15:01, 10 December 2019

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