Jason Day has withdrawn from this year’s Presidents Cup due to a back injury. Ernie Els selected Day just three weeks ago as one of his captain’s picks. The biannual event is being held at Royal Melbourne in Australia which is Day’s home country.
Earlier this month, Day was excited to compete:
Can’t wait to get back to @Melbourne for the @PresidentsCup and compete for Captain @TheBig_Easy! Hope to see you all at Royal Melbourne cheering The Internationals on! pic.twitter.com/SldWakAFG7
— Jason Day (@JDayGolf) November 7, 2019
Ernie Els replaced Day with South Korean, Ben An.
In a news release Els said:
We wish Jason well and hope his back recovers quickly. We were eager to have Jason as part of the team at Royal Melbourne and his experience will be missed.”
“The good news is that there were a number of strong and qualified players available to choose from when I made my captain’s selections. To have someone as steady and talented as Ben An puts us in a great position to succeed. Ben played extremely well this fall and throughout the year and he will fit in nicely on this team.”
During the fall season, An had an excellent run finishing third at the Sanderson Farms Championship, a tie for 6th at the CJ Cup, and a tie for 8th at the Zozo Championship. He managed to break the top 15 with a tie for 14th amongst the world’s best, at the WGC-HSBC Champions.
An was quoted saying:
“I’m sorry to hear that Jason has been forced to withdraw from the International team and I wish him a speedy recovery. It was a huge surprise to receive a call from Ernie who told me that I was in the team. It has been a goal of mine all season to be on the International team and I am honored to play in my first presidents cup. I’m looking forward to joining Ernie and the rest of the team in Melbourne and, more importantly, contribute to the International team’s goal to win the Cup.”
There is no word on the how Day’s recovery is going, but he has made it clear he will not be participating in the Australian Open either. Day said he was “disappointed” and had been trying to rehab his back, but decided it would be more beneficial for him to take some time off to properly care for the injury.
“Frustratingly, I’ve been through back problems before and my medical team decided it best to shut down all practice and play, I look forward to playing at home in the near future,” Day said. “My best to all the competitors in Sydney and my teammates in Melbourne.”
h/t: golfchannel.com
