Presidents Cup Assignment for Ex-AAC Quartet

Charlotte, North Carolina, United States: Four former Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (AAC) participants will represent the International Team against the United States in this month’s Presidents Cup.

An automatic qualifier, two-time AAC winner Hideki Matsuyama of Japan is joined in the team by Australian Cam Davis and Koreans Kim Si-woo and KH Lee Kyoung-hoon, all three among Captain Trevor Immelman's six picks.

Matsuyama won the AAC in 2010 and 2011 while Kim was in the field in 2011 and Lee played in the first two editions of the event in 2009 and 2010. Davis participated in 2015 and 2016.

While Lee will be making his Presidents Cup debut following a career-best season on the PGA Tour, it will be a second appearance in the match play event for Kim who competed in the 2017 edition.

With Im Sung-jae and Tom Kim Joo-hyung also earning spots in the team at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina from September 20-25 there will, for the first time, be four Koreans in the International team.

Lee said: “It will be my first time playing in the Presidents Cup and I’m very happy and honoured to be picked by our captain. I’m quite nervous but happy. We have two weeks until the event and I can’t wait for it.

“I was really pleased to receive the call from Trevor. I am prepared to be paired with anyone since they are all good players. There will be synergy pairing up with anybody.”

Kim added: “Trevor called a week after the Play-offs and I was happy as it means I’ll be able to play in my second Presidents Cup. I look forward to contributing to our team’s cause.

“It’s great that four Korean players have made it. With so many Koreans on this team, it does raise my pride to be a Korean. When I first played in 2017, I was the only player from my country, which made me little lonely. But now we have many players, we can speak the same language and I’m happy about this.”

Immelman said Lee was a prime candidate to earn one of his six captain’s picks after the 31-year-old qualified for his first Tour Championship, which is limited to the top-30 players on the FedEx Cup ranking. Lee retained his AT&T Byron Nelson title in May for his second Tour victory and posted seven other top-25s in the recent season.

“KH is a proven winner and someone who has performed at a high level for quite some time. With each of his AT&T Byron Nelson wins, he went toe-to-toe with some of the best players in the world, but his final-round charge at the BMW Championship (to finish tied fifth), where he nearly made our top eight automatic qualifiers, showed me a lot about his grit and determination.

“With KH, Si-woo, Tom Kim and Im Sung-jae, we have the largest contingent of Korean players on this team in Presidents Cup history, which I’m sure is a proud moment for everyone in their home country,” said Immelman, who is leading the International Team for the first time.

Immelman added that 27-year-old Kim Si-woo, a three-time PGA Tour winner, was another player he has kept on his radar following a consistent season which saw him post 11 top-25s.

“Si-woo simply could not be overlooked. He is the youngest player to have ever won The Players at 21 years old; he has Presidents Cup experience from competing in 2017 on American soil; he is extremely popular in the locker room; and I have deep respect for his unlimited potential.”

In total, seven countries are represented on Immelman’s side: Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Japan, South Africa and Korea.