International Team Presidents Cup Captain Trevor Immelman has expressed his frustrations at the disruptions he’s faced picking his team following LIV Golf defections.
However, while the South African admits it has not been a straightforward process, he said that any player who hoped to make the team and subsequently joined the Saudi-backed Series did so fully aware of the potential consequences.
Following the finalisation of the International Team with his captain’s picks, he said: “Let me make one thing extremely clear. Everybody that’s been on our squad since 2019 at Royal Melbourne all the way through today has been in constant and open communication. Everybody knew exactly what the situation was, knew that if they made certain decisions it was highly likely that they would not be able to compete in the Presidents Cup. Everybody knew that going into it. It was part of their decision-making process.”
The 2008 Masters champion, who will lead the team at Quail Hollow later this month, admits he had advanced notice of some players’ decisions, which inevitably made his job easier. He said: “I knew in some cases a while before everybody else exactly what those decisions were, and I do thank and respect those players that would keep me in the loop so I could make the best decisions possible to put our team in the strongest position possible going into Quail Hollow.”
LIV Golf announced six new signings after the Tour Championship with World No.2 Cameron Smith – who would have been eligible – among them, and the 42-year-old admitted it led to a tricky process. He said: “It still was pretty frustrating at times. Glad it’s all over right now. A couple weeks ago was definitely tough.”
Last month, Immelman described his frustrations in even stronger terms. Speaking to GOLF’s Subpar Podcast (opens in new tab), he said: “It’s a giant pain in my a**.” He added: “From a Presidents Cup standpoint it’s made it uber tricky. We’re talking about team rooms – how about if I’d gone ahead and put images up of different players and then all of a…
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