Matsuyama and Koreans among the six best international team qualifiers for the Presidents Cup
Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and Koreans Joohyung “Tom” Kim, Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An were among the top six automatic qualifiers for the International team that will face the USA in the 2024 Presidents Cup on Sunday when it concludes the BMW Championship. The other two automatic qualifiers for the Internationals decided over the weekend were Australians Adam Scott and Jason Day.
The top 6 of the US team have also been determined: World number one and FedEx Cup leader Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala have secured their places for the showdown at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada, from September 24 to 29, according to the PGA Tour.
National team captain Mike Weir and his US counterpart Jim Furyk will announce the selection of their six captains to complete the 12-man teams on Tuesday, September 3.
Meanwhile, US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley claimed his seventh Tour title at the BMW Championship with a one-stroke victory over Scott and fellow American Sam Burns at Castle Pines Golf Club in Castle Rock, Colorado. However, Korean Si Woo Kim narrowly missed out on a shot at joining fellow countrymen Sungjae Im and Byeong Hun An at the Tour Championship, despite completing his best performance of the season with a shared fifth place at Castle Rock.
Kim, a four-time Tour winner, finished at 2-under-par 70 and finished the week at 8-under-par 280, four strokes behind winner Keegan Bradley, who shot 72 in the final round to claim his second BMW Championship title.
Among the Asian quartet, Matsuyama, Kim and Im were part of the Internationals that lost 12.5 to 17.5 to the USA at Quail Hollow two years ago. An will return to the team after his only appearance at Royal Melbourne in 2019. Matsuyama, who won the Genesis Invitational and FedEx St. Jude Championship this season, finished the season as the highest-ranked International qualifier.
He will be taking part in the Presidents Cup for the sixth year in a row, putting him joint fourth on the international rankings with Retief Goosen and Robert Allenby. The 32-year-old is third in the FedEx Cup Playoffs finals and also won bronze at the Olympic Games in Paris earlier this month. Matsuyama has a career record of 7-10-5 (wins-losses-ties) in the Presidents Cup.
Im, a two-time Tour winner, said he is looking forward to his third consecutive appearance remaining undefeated in Sunday’s Presidents Cup singles play after defeating Gary Woodland and Cameron Young in 2019 and 2022, respectively. He has seven top-10 finishes this season and qualified for the Tour Championship for the sixth consecutive year.
“The Presidents Cup is a tournament that every international-level player wants to participate in. It is a team competition, so we are going with the mindset of playing as an international team. Together, we will do our best and try to beat the US team,” said the 26-year-old Im, who has a record of 5-3-2.
After a memorable debut at Quail Hollow, Tom Kim was delighted to make his second consecutive appearance for the international team, where he hopes to improve his record of 2-3-0. The 22-year-old, who holds three PGA Tour wins, delivered one of the moments of the week in 2022 when he teamed with Si Woo Kim in the four-ball matches on Saturday afternoon. On the 18th hole, tied with Schauffele and Cantlay, he hit a great 2-iron approach shot and then converted a 10-foot birdie putt to win the match 1-up before erupting into wild celebrations with his team.
Kim said: “I’m really excited. The Presidents Cup is definitely up there, it’s unique. It’s the one week where we play in a team environment. After the last one, I just wanted to be back with the team. There’s so much joy and it’s only one week. I’m very passionate so I think energy is a big thing, especially as a young guy.
“My first Presidents Cup, I was so passionate and I wanted to do so much for our team. I think the crowds at our home stadium are going to be great. They’re going to be very spirited. And you know, I can’t wait to get the Canadian crowd going.”
After a successful season that took An to the Tour Championship for the first time, the 32-year-old will be looking to help the Internationals claim their second victory in the biennial team competition. An has five top-10 finishes this season, including a playoff loss at the Sony Open in Hawaii. He played in all five matches at the 2019 Presidents Cup in Australia and partnered Scott twice in four-ball.
“It’s not easy to make the team, but I’m glad to be back. And now hopefully I’ll never miss it again. I hope to play good golf and score a lot of points. One of my primary goals for this year was to get to the Presidents Cup. It’s very special to play for the team and as a team and there are some great team members,” he told the PGA Tour.