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December waits with The Big Easy

Ernie Els came, he saw and he was captivated.

Ernie Els and Shubhankar Sharma
Ernie Els and Shubhankar Sharma

Entrusted with the captaincy of the International Team for next year’s Presidents Cup, the World Golf Hall of Famer recently spent two weeks competing on the PGA TOUR’s Asian Swing and left with a great sense of optimism and confidence that the dominant United States team can be conquered afterall.

Els, who has featured in eight International Teams but with scant success, is excited to see a fresh wave of talented and young international golfers coming through the ranks that he is prepared to unleash new blood into his 12-man squad.

With exactly a year to go before the next Presidents Cup showdown takes place at Royal Melbourne Golf Club, Australia from December 9 to 15, 2019, Els reckons a concoction of success-hungry veterans sprinkled with fearless and eager rookies can turn the tide in the International Team’s favour.

The Big Easy, as Els is fondly known, competed in the CIMB Classic in Malaysia and THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES in South Korea and kept a close watch on emerging stars such as Korea’s Siwoo Kim and Sungjae Im, Australian Cameron Smith, Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand, India’s Shubhankar Sharma, Japan’s Satoshi Kodaira, Argentinean Emiliano Grillo, and C.T. Pan of Chinese Taipei.

With established team members, Marc Leishman, Jason Day, Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott, all showing good form since the race to make the International team began in August, Els is quite anxious to see how his team shapes up over the next 10 months.

Marc Leishman
Marc Leishman

In Malaysia, Leishman claimed his fourth PGA TOUR victory by tying the tournament record of 26-under-par 262 while five other International players – Grillo (T2), Abraham Ancer (T5), Oosthuizen (T5), Sharma (T10) and Kim (T10) – finished in the top-10.

Four internationals –Day (T5), Smith (T7), Adam Hadwin (T10) and Scott (T10) – featured in the top-10 at the CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES while Kiradech (T4), Day (T11), Hatong Li (T11), Grillo (T14) and Scott (T18) finished in the top-20 in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions.

In Els, who is also remembered for the famous duel-in-the-dark with Tiger Woods in the only draw of the series in 2003, the International Team will look up to a leader who has been there, seen it and done it.

In Korea, Els played nine holes in a practice round with 22-year-old Sharma, whom the South African had encountered during a golf clinic in New Delhi some 10 years ago. “Shubhankar has won twice in the last 12 months and he’s still only 22, so he’s another one to watch,” said the South African.

The captain spent time speaking to other potential international team members, including 20-year-old Im, who was the 2018 Web.com Tour Player of the Year following two wins. The South Korean enjoyed a top-five finish in his first PGA TOUR start at the Safeway Open in October, offering another glimpse of his immense potential.

Talent aside, Els ultimately wants his players to be hungry for success at Royal Melbourne. “I just want them to be keen. I want them to be up for it. Obviously our team is not renowned like the U.S. team is. The U.S. team is a well-oiled team, they play Ryder Cups together, they obviously play very well in the Presidents Cup against us, so they're a very mature team.”

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