The next International Team Presidents Cup captain will hail from South Africa. Only it won’t be Ernie Els returning for a second tour of duty. Instead, Trevor Immelman, one of his assistant captains from 2019’s match at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia, will assume the helm and try to end the International team’s losing streak, which dates to 1998. (The teams played to a draw in South Africa in 2003.)
The Man out Front heard rumors for some time that Immelman, the 2008 Masters champion and primarily a television commentator for CBS Sports these days, was next in line for the job if Els decided not to return to the post.
At the Players Championship in March, Australian Adam Scott, a stalwart of the International side on nine straight Presidents Cup teams, came up to Immelman on the practice tee and congratulated him on getting the post.
Immelman, who turned 40 in December, will be the youngest man to captain either side. His playing career was plagued by injuries in recent years, especially to his wrists. In two Presidents Cup appearances in 2005 and 2007, he compiled a 1-6-1 record.
Efforts to reach Immelman by phone were unsuccessful. The PGA Tour is expected to make Immelman’s post official on Tuesday during a conference call scheduled for 10 a.m.
The Presidents Cup is scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2021, at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. Immelman is quite familiar with the Queen City from competing in the Wells Fargo Championship, where he once finished second, losing a sudden-death playoff in 2006 to Jim Furyk, and from visiting his parents, who formerly resided there.