South Korean golfer Bae Sang-moon will make his Presidents Cup debut on home soil this fall as a captain's pick for the International Team.
Bae, whose future after the current PGA Tour season is in limbo with mandatory military service looming, was one of two choices made by Nick Price Tuesday in the United States. Steven Bowditch of Australia was the other selection.
The Presidents Cup, the biennial competition between the United States and a team of non-European international stars inaugurated in 1994, will come to Asia for the first time this year. Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon, just west of Seoul, will host the event from Oct. 6 to 11.
Bae, a two-time PGA Tour winner, is the only South Korean player on this year's team, though New Zealander Danny Lee was born in Incheon and still has relatives in the city.
"I am really happy now. I'd like to thank Captain Price for selecting me to represent the International Team," Bae said during a teleconference following his selection. "Actually, I am really in a tough situation right now. I just want to try to focus on my game and on the Presidents Cup. It's going to be in my home country, and I will do my best."
The top 10 qualifiers for both the U.S. and International Teams were finalized after the end of the Deutsche Bank Championship on the PGA Tour on Monday near Boston. The International Team was determined by world rankings, while the American squad was based on the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup points.
Bae finished 19th on the Presidents Cup standings and is ranked 92nd in the world. Price bypassed a few players ranked above Bae on the standings, but the captain explained he went with Bae's recent form and good history on Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea.
Bae won the Shinhan Donghae Open, a Korean tour event held on the same course, in 2013 and 2014.
"Sang-moon has played well the last three to four weeks, and he's won on this golf course," Price said. "So he feels very comfortable on this course. And it's very important for us to have someone on the team that the Korean fans and media could pull for, but it was a difficult decision."
The 29-year-old recently lost a legal battle to extend his overseas travel permit and has committed to begin his mandatory military service after the current PGA Tour season.
Both Price and Bae said they didn't foresee any problem with the player's availability.
"It shouldn't be a problem," Bae said. "I've already talked to the Korean media that I will go to military after this season.
Price just picked me up and I've got to play the Presidents Cup. I will do the service after that. It shouldn't be a problem."
Price said he does have a backup plan in case the South Korean government doesn't allow Bae to play but added, "I am pretty sure he will be cleared to play."
Price said over the past week, he had half a dozen candidates on his mind for his two picks. He whittled them down to three players by Tuesday morning, and then made his two picks.
After picking Bowditch, who won the AT&T Byron Nelson in May and finished 11th on the standings, Price said it came down between Bae and Matt Jones, an Australian who ended in 14th after making a desperate last-minute push at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
Bae's most recent win came at the Frys.com Open at the start of the 2014-2015 season.
Since that victory, Bae has made 27 starts on the PGA Tour, and managed just four top-10s while missing the cut nine times.
Two weeks ago, he was tied for the lead after three rounds at The Barclays, the first FedEx Cup playoff event, but faltered in the final round to settle for a tie for sixth. At the Deutsche Bank Championship, Bae tied for 39th.
Both Bae and Bowditch are Presidents Cup rookies, joined by three other first-timers, Danny Lee, Anirban Lahiri of India and Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand.
One other South Korean player was left on the outside looking in: An Byeong-hun finished 11th in the standings, on the strength of his first European Tour victory at the BMW PGA Championship in May. The 23-year-old, however, hasn't played well since that win, with no top-10s in eight starts and three missed cuts. His poor form of late, plus his relative inexperience compared to other candidates, may have cost An a spot on this year's team.
The International Team will be led by Jason Day, world No. 3 and the reigning PGA Championship winner. The Australian is the only non-European inside the top 10 on the Official World Golf Rankings.
South African Louis Oosthuizen, who tied for second at the U.S. Open and the Open Championship this year, finished second to Day on the Presidents Cup standings.
Former world No. 1 Adam Scott and 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen also made the team.
The United States, captained by Jay Haas, will field a stacked squad featuring world No. 1 Jordan Spieth, who won two majors in 2015, and the 2015 Open champion Zach Johnson.
They're joined by two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson, the Deutsche Bank Championship winner Rickie Fowler, and seasoned veteran Jim Furyk, who has played in seven Presidents Cups.
The U.S. has five of the world's top-10 golfers.
Haas then used his two captain's picks on his son, Bill, and five-time major champion Phil Mickelson.
Bill Haas, who has been on the past two Presidents Cup teams, finished 11th on the standings and Mickelson was 30th. Though he hasn't won in over two years, Mickelson has played at every Presidents Cup and Jay Haas said he wanted Mickelson to be the team leader.
The U.S. Team has won eight of the 10 Presidents Cup so far, with the 2003 competition ending in a tie. The lone International victory came in 1998.
The combined score in the Americans' eight victories is 153-113. They've won the last five Cups by 95-75, with a victory margin of at least three points each time. (Yonhap)
