Trevor Immelman used five of his six captain’s picks Tuesday on Presidents Cup rookies to fill out an International team decimated by defections to Saudi-funded LIV Golf.
British Open champion Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann of Chile signed with the rival league after qualifying had ended. They played their first LIV Golf event last week, making them ineligible for the Presidents Cup.
The only captain’s pick with any experience is Si Woo Kim of South Korea. He played on the 2017 team at Liberty National that was beat so badly the match was nearly decided before singles.
The only pick from the top 50 in the world is K.H. Lee of South Korea — only one other was available, Ryan Fox of New Zealand, who plays on the European tour and was overlooked by Immelman.
The other picks were Cameron Davis of Australia, Sebastian Munoz of Colombia, Taylor Pendrith of Canada and Christiaan Bezuidenhout of South Africa.
The six qualifiers were Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, Adam Scott of Australia, Sungjae Im and Tom Kim of South Korea, Corey Conners of Canada and Mito Pereira of Chile.
Scott, Matsuyama and Im are the only players who were at Royal Melbourne three years ago when the International team nearly ended more than 20 years of losing.
Prospects aren’t any better this time for the Sept. 22-25 matches at Quail Hollow in North Carolina. The Americans lost three potential players to the Saudi league, none who would have qualified for a U.S. team with great depth.
The U.S. has lost only one Presidents Cup since the matches began in 1994. There also was a tie in South Africa in 2003. The Americans have won eight in a row.
U.S. captain Davis Love III announces his six picks on Wednesday.
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