Immelman finalises 'hungry' International Presidents Cup team

Trevor Immelman finalized his International Presidents Cup team on Tuesday with six captain's picks to complete a side "hungry" to take on the United States even without high profile names ruled out by their move to LIV Golf. South Africa's Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion, admitted it was disappointing to see players including world No. 2 Cameron Smith and 13th-ranked Joaquin Niemann ruled out after their jump to the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, which saw them lose their PGA Tour status.

But he said he was more than satisfied with the squad assembled, which already featured 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott of Australia. "These are the players that wanted to be on the team," Immelman said. "I want the guys that are committed." Scott has played 10 Presidents Cups and Matsuyama has featured in four. But five of the six captain's picks named by Immelman are newcomers to the match play showdown that features an International team of players from everywhere except Europe taking on the United States in a competition modeled on the Ryder Cup. Canada's Taylor Pendrith, South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Aussie Cam Davis, South Korean Lee Kyoung-hoon and Colombia's Sebastian Munoz will all make their Presidents Cup debuts at Quail Hollow in North Carolina, where the event tees off on September 22. South Korean Kim Si-woo was also selected by Immelman for a team that has a total of eight rookies. When the dust settled after the LIV Golf departures, the six players who qualified via points standings were Matsuyama, Scott, South Koreans Im Sung-jae and Kim Jooh-yung, Canadian Corey Conners and Chile's Mito Pereira. Immelman was granted two extra captain's picks after Smith