Presidents Cup: International captain Ernie Els faces selection dilemma ahead of US showdown

The USA has so much talent available that Ricki Fowler is no guarantee to be included for the Presidents Cup. If only the Internationals had that problem and that’s putting a lot of pressure on their captain.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 26: Golfer Ernie Els of South Africa and Melbourne Demons' Jordan Lewis shake hands during The Big Easy's BBQ at Brighton Beach Boxes on November 26, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. Eels will be International Team Captain at the Presidents Cup next year in Melbourne. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Ernie Els must pull an ace from his hat this week to remotely find a formula to trouble the Americans at next month’s Presidents Cup.

Els needs to find some magic in the four captain’s picks he will unveil on Thursday to complete his 12-man Internationals team. Or else.

Even if world No.1 Brooks Koepka pulls out of Royal Melbourne (December 12-15) with a knee problem, six of the American team will still be world top 10 players.

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Ernie Els will lead the Internationals at Royal Melbourne.

That includes in-form talisman Tiger Woods, the Team USA captain who will likely pick himself, Tony Finau, Gary Woodland and Patrick Reed to round out his elite squad.

Aussie Jason Day will be one captain’s pick for Els.

He’ll still be choosing new dad Branden Grace for his proven track record despite the South African’s modest form of four missed cuts from his last six tournaments.

Korea’s Sungjae Im would be a worthy choice as one of the PGA Tour’s best putters with more birdies (480) than anyone last season when he pushed himself to 35 events.

Local knowledge didn’t pay off when Robert Allenby was a poorly-performed captain’s pick at Royal Melbourne in 2011, so who next?

Canada’s Adam Hadwin, with his 2017 Cup experience, is a big chance as is Korea’s Byeong Hun An, in good recent form after narrowly missing the 2015 and 2017 teams.

Oh to have the Woods’ dilemma... he may have to leave out world No.21 Rickie Fowler, still enjoying his first weeks of married life without golf.

Originally published as Presidents Cup: International captain Ernie Els faces selection dilemma ahead of US showdown