Trevor Immelman’s job as the Presidents Cup captain for the International Team has become more difficult as the competition approaches.
The top eight players on the points list had earned a spot on the team for the biennial event against the United States to be held Sept. 22-25 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, meaning Immelman had four picks to make.
But when a pair of players — Cam Smith and Joaquin Niemann — made the jump to LIV Golf before the recent event outside Boston, Immelman suddenly had an extra pair of selections to play with. This followed the costly defections of Louis Oosthuizen and Abraham Ancer, about whom Immelman had previously said, “We’ve lost two guys that were absolutely going to be there at Quail Hollow.”
The Presidents Cup is a match-play event with 30 total matches, comprised of a 12-person U.S. Team and a 12-person International Team. The U.S. leads 11-1-1.
Here’s a look at the six players Immelman selected on Tuesday to fill out his team.
More: Meet the automatic qualifiers for the International Team at the 2022 Presidents Cup
K.H. Lee
Hometown: Seoul, South KoreaAge: 31Presidents Cup appearances: First
An easy choice as a captain’s selection by Trevor Immelman, Lee finished ninth in the International Team standings, one spot outside of an automatic qualifying position. Lee will make his debut for the young International side at Quail Hollow on the heels of his best two seasons as a professional.
Lee won the 2021 AT&T Byron Nelson for his first win on the PGA Tour and picked up his second by defending his Byron Nelson title. He plays a lot and has five top-10 finishes over the last two seasons, with 16 inside the top 25. He might not blow you away with his game, but he can be a consistent straw that stirs the drink for the inexperienced Internationals.
Sebastián Muñoz
Hometown: Bogota, ColombiaAge: 29Presidents Cup appearances: First
Munoz has steadily grown his stature on the PGA Tour since he earned his first win at the 2019 Sanderson Farms Championship via a playoff with Sungjae Im. The next season, with scores of 60 at both the RSM Classic and Byron Nelson, Munoz became the first player in Tour history to record multiple scores of 60 or better in a single season. On a young team looking for stars to shine, the Colombian can go low. He’s often in the mix on Tour, with 12 top-10 finishes over the last three seasons, 26 inside the top 25. He’s just the second Colombian to compete in the event, joining Camilo Villegas (2009).
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Hometown: Delmas, South AfricaAge: 28Presidents Cup appearances: First
Christiaan Bezuidenhout makes his Presidents Cup debut at Quail Hollow coming off his best year on the PGA Tour yet. Though he’s still winless in the United States, the South African made 20 cuts on Tour this season, half of those finishes coming in the top 25. Since the last Presidents Cup matches in 2019, Bezuidenhout has emerged as a future talent for the International side thanks to a pair of wins in 2020 at the Alfred Dunhill Championship and his home South African Open. He also earned a top-20 finish at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Taylor Pendrith
Hometown: Richmond Hill, Ontario, CanadaAge: 31Presidents Cup appearances: First
In his first full season on the PGA Tour after earning a promotion from the Korn Ferry Tour, the Canadian held the lead twice in 2021-22 which led to nine top-25 finishes, including a trio of top 10s at the Bermuda Championship (T-5), Rocket Mortgage Classic (T-2) and BMW Championship (T-8), his best finish in a FedEx Cup Playoffs event. Pendrith was sidelined for four months with a rib injury this year, but when healthy he played well. Sure, he’s another rookie, but Pendrith makes for a natural choice for team unity given the Canadian presence on Trevor Immelman’s squad.
Si Woo Kim
Hometown: Seoul, South Korea
Age: 27
Presidents Cup appearances: 1 (2017)
Presidents Cup record: 1-2-0
Kim earned one point alongside Anirban Lahiri in the 2017 matches at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, during their Saturday fourball match against Kevin Chappell and Charley Hoffman. It’s not a lot of experience, but on a rookie-laden team International Team captain Trevor Immelman will take all the history he can get.
Kim is a three-time winner on the PGA Tour, most recently at The American Express in January 2021, but his marquee win came at the 2017 Players Championship, where he beat Louis Oosthuizen and Ian Poulter by three shots. He struggled towards the end of this last PGA Tour season, but he still made 23 cuts with 11 top 25 finishes.
Cam Davis
Hometown: Sydney, AustraliaAge: 27Presidents Cup appearances: First
Davis came on in the second half of the 2021-22 season, making 10 straight cuts and finishing in the top 16 in six of those 10 events.
Now over a year removed from his lone PGA Tour victory, the 2021 Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Davis continues to grind along with a solid short game. He’s also no stranger to team golf — as a member of the Australian teams for the Nomura Cup in 2013 and the Eisenhower Trophy in 2016 he helped his teams to victory, taking top honors in the latter.
