Thursday 7 November 2019 08:42, UK
International team captain Ernie Els has named Jason Day, Adam Hadwin, Sungjae Im and Joaquin Niemann as his four captain's picks for next month's Presidents Cup in Melbourne.
Former world No 1 Day joins fellow Australians Adam Scott, Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith in the youngest ever International team, who boast only two players in the world's top 20, with the average age of the 12 players just over 29.
Day, who will play his fifth Presidents Cup, narrowly missed out on qualifying automatically for the team to face the United States - captained by Tiger Woods - at Royal Melbourne from December 12-15, live on Sky Sports Golf.
"I want to thank Ernie for having the faith in me and I'm looking forward to catching up with the whole team down in Australia," Day said.
The hosts will field six debutants, with South Korean Im, the PGA Tour's rookie of the year, and Niemann, the first Chilean to play in the biennial event, selected alongside already qualified debutants Abraham Ancer, C.T. Pan, Li Haotong and Cameron Smith.
"This is really big for my country and South America," 21-year-old Niemann said.
"Golf has been growing a lot in Chile and this is going to help those kids who are growing up and starting to play the game."
Im, who is also 21, will make his Presidents Cup debut, while Hadwin will make a second appearance after being on the losing side at Liberty National in 2017.
"We have got a lot to do but I'm thinking guys who make the team can play," Els said.
"I'm not here to hide anybody, I'm here to try to win enough points to get the team over the line.
"Whether that is playing rookies together, so be it ... In many instances, this Cup will be an ice-breaker on a lot of fronts."
Woods will announce his four captain's picks for the United States on Friday (0000 GMT) and is expected to pick himself following his victory in the Zozo Championship in Japan last month.
Watch the Presidents Cup live from December 13-15 on Sky Sports!
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