Immelman Explains Oosthuizen's Bizarre Presidents Cup Omission

While it’s no shock that LIV Golf players have been omitted from the Presidents Cup, the absence of Louis Oosthuizen is more of a surprise given he resigned his PGA Tour membership to join the Saudi-backed venture.

Ahead of the PGA Tour-sanctioned event at Quail Hollow, International team captain Trevor Immelman explained that he’s happy with his selection despite the LIV Golf absentees, and talked specifically about why the South African was one of them. He said: “My understanding is that he made particular announcements and allowed himself to be used in different marketing campaigns and announcements once he was not given the release from the PGA Tour, and he did all of those things before he resigned his membership. So there were still particular infractions there.”

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Despite Immelman’s explanation, there seemed to be good reason for the expectations of Oosthuizen’s inclusion, not least the pair’s friendship and the LIV Golf player’s excellent Presidents Cup record. Not only that, but Oosthuizen clearly would have liked the chance to take make his fifth appearance in the tournament. Last week, he admitted to Sports Illustrated that his omission from the tournament was “a bit of a punch in the gut.”

Look back further, though, and the PGA Tour was clear in its stance. In June, it sent a strongly worded letter to its members stating LIV Golf players are "suspended or otherwise no longer eligible to participate in PGA Tour tournament play, including the Presidents Cup.”

Nevertheless, Oosthuizen also admitted to Sports Illustrated that he anticipating still being eligible. He said: “I thought by resigning my membership before I did anything wrong really... there's no rule that says I need to be a PGA Tour member to play the Presidents Cup, especially as an International team player.”

As far as Immelman is concerned, though, no one was left in any doubt as to their status. He said: “Every single player that I spoke to from early on in this process knew exactly what the situation and the consequences were going to be. They knew that if they made certain decisions, it was going to be highly unlikely they were going to be able to represent the International team. That went into their decision-making process. All the cards were out on the table, and everybody knew where they stood.”

In the event, Immelman will need to help inspire an International team that starts as heavy underdogs to a USA team that boasts five of the world’s current top 10 as they go in search of their first outright win in the Presidents Cup since 1998.