Bezuidenhout included in International Presidents Cup side
South African Christiaan
Bezuidenhout has been included as one of the six International Presidents Cup Captain’s
Picks ahead of this year’s edition at Quail Hollow this month.
Following the selection of the six original players onto the International Team, Bezuidenhout played his way onto the team with some strong performances towards the back end of the PGA Tour season.
After the conclusion of the PGA Tour season, Australian Cameron Smith and Columbian Joaquin Niemann were both excluded from the International Team after defecting to the LIV Golf Series.
This opened captain Trevor Immelman up to six Captain’s Picks as opposed to the four that he originally received.
New stars are coming to Captain Trevor Immelman’s International Team.
Posted by Presidents Cup on Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Speaking about including the South African Bezuidenhout, Immelman couldn’t speak higher of the 28 year-old.
“I’ve been really impressed by his consistency and his demeanour,” Immelman said.
“The one thing that I really love about his game since he’s started playing more in the USA is his putting.
“His putting really is a weapon and he’s been in the top six for strokes gained stat over the last few seasons on the PGA Tour.
“That for me is extremely impressive when you consider that a lot of these golf courses he’s playing for the first time so doesn’t have all that much experience on the green complexes, but still ranks high.”
Given the format of the competition and the pressure that players are constantly under in match-play, Immelman believes that Bezuidenhout’s putting is an asset.
“In eighteen hole match-play, it’s a sprint to be honest and you have to make a lot of birdies.”
It’s well documented that Bezuidenhout has had difficulties growing up and his power through the hardship is another element of his character that drew Immelman to the South African.
“With the adversity that he has faced in his life he’s got a certain amount of toughness to him deep down.
“It’s not in an arrogant way, it’s something that is tangible and a huge advantage for him.
“He is absolutely someone that I want on our team,” the captain added.
Amongst the other Captain’s Picks for the International team were Columbian Sebastian Munoz, South Korean stars KH Lee and Si Woo Kim, Canadian Taylor Pendrith and Australian Cam Davis.
The six join the automatically selected players, Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Sungjae Im (South Korea), Adam Scott (Australia), Mito Pereira (Chile), Corey Conners (Canada), Tom Kim (South Korea)
