Asian stars poised to make Els' cup choices more challenging

Next year's Presidents Cup is being billed as the mother of all showdowns, and Asia's top golfers, including China's No 1 Li Haotong, are already dreaming of being in the heart of the action at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia.

Tiger Woods and Ernie Els will captain the United States and International teams respectively from Dec 9-15, 2019, setting the stage for a match unlike any other considering their historic playoff duel in South Africa in 2003 that concluded with the only draw in the history of the storied competition.

The race to make the International team (excluding European golfers) will begin in earnest from Aug 27 of this year, when Official World Golf Ranking points accumulated during a 12-month period will see the leading eight international players qualifying for the team, with another four to be selected by Els.