Three South Korean golfers have locked down automatic spots for this year's Presidents Cup, a biennial match play competition between the United States and a team of non-European international players. Hours after the conclusion of the BMW Championship in Colorado on Sunday (local time), the Presidents Cup organizers unveiled the top six players on the International Team who had earned their automatic berths based on their world ranking positions. Half of those six will represent South Korea: Im Sung-jae (No. 2), Tom Kim (No. 4) and An Byeong-hun (No. 6). They are joined by Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, and two Australian veterans in Adam Scott and Jason Day. Im is the top South Korean on the latest world rankings at No. 20, followed by Kim at No. 22 and An at No. 34. The remaining six spots will be filled by the captain's picks. In this Getty Images file photo from Sept. 23, 2022, Tom Kim (L) and Im Sung-jae of South Korea celebrate a putt by the International Team during a four-ball match against the Uni ted States at the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Yonhap) In this Getty Images file photo from Sept. 23, 2022, Tom Kim (L) and Im Sung-jae of South Korea celebrate a putt by the International Team during a four-ball match against the United States at the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Yonhap) This year's competition will be played at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Montreal, Canada, from Sept. 26 to 29. The U.S. has won 12 of the 14 competitions so far, with one loss and one tie. The lone International victory came in 1998 in Melbourne. Im, a two-time PGA Tour winner, will play at his third Presidents Cup, after the 2019 and 2022 competition. He has a 5-3-2 (wins-losses-halves) and is undefeated in Sunday singles. "If you're from a country eligible for the International Team, the Presidents Cup is the event you always want to play. And the fact that players all pursue the common goal of trying to beat the U.S. te am is what makes this competition a lot of fun," Im said through the PGA Tour. "It's always a unique experience to be teammates with world-famous golfers and compete together." Kim made his Presidents Cup debut in 2022 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina, and delivered a memorable moment at the end of a four-ball match with countryman Kim Si-woo on Saturday. With his team tied with Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay on the 18th hole, Tom Kim drained a 10-foot birdie putt to clinch the 1-up victory and threw down his hat to set off a wild celebration. Kim, who has three PGA Tour titles, went 2-3-0 overall that year. "I am excited to be playing at the Presidents Cup once again. This is really a special competition, because it's the only match play event for international players," Kim said. "I want to bring my passion to the team. As a young player, I think it's important for me to play with energy. I think the crowd will be behind us, and I can't wait to see the passionate support of our Can adian fans." An will also play at his second Presidents Cup, after going 1-2-2 in 2019. He partnered with Scott in all five matches then. "It wasn't easy to make the team, and I want to make the most of this opportunity," An said. "I want to contribute as many points to the team as I can. Making the Presidents Cup team was one of my goals for this year and I am glad I've accomplished that. It's a special experience to be competing on the same team with other international players. We have some great players on the team this year and people should expect some big things from us." The U.S. team will be stacked once again, led by world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and second-ranked Schauffele, who won two majors this year. Four other automatic qualifiers for the U.S. are: Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Cantlay and Sahith Theegala. International Team Captain Mike Weir and U.S. Team Captain Jim Furyk will announce their additional picks on Sept. 3, following the end of the PGA Tour's final playoff event, the Tour Championship. Source: Yonhap News Agency
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