MELBOURNE: International team captain Ernie Els has named South Korea’s KJ Choi, fellow South African Trevor Immelman and Canada’s Mike Weir as his final three assistants for this year’s Presidents Cup in Melbourne.
Els had already picked Australia’s Geoff Ogilvy as one of his four helpers for the tournament against the Tiger Woods-led Americans at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club -- Australia’s oldest -- from Dec 12-15.
Choi was an assistant to skipper Nick Price in 2015, as was Weir, while Immelman will be making his debut in the role.
“As the most successful Asian golfer on the PGA Tour, KJ certainly commands a lot of respect amongst our players and I believe he will fire up our guys at Royal Melbourne,“ Els said.
“I have known Trevor for a very long time and trust him fully to know that he will be an integral element in our team,“ he added.
“I’ve played on the same International team with Mike on four occasions and he’s one of the most passionate guys I know when it comes to the Presidents Cup.”
All three bring extensive experience to the matchplay team event. Weir played five Presidents Cups, Choi three and Immelman two.
They have their work cut out. The US team won the last tournament in Jersey City in 2017 by 19-11, their seventh straight triumph.
The only win by the Internationals in the biennial event’s 25-year history was in Melbourne in 1998, when they were captained by Peter Thomson.
Last month, Woods named the experienced Fred Couples, Steve Stricker and Zach Johnson as three of his assistants.
The 14-time major champion has previously said he was keen to be a playing captain by ensuring he is among the eight top-ranked Americans who will gain automatic selections. — AFP
