Jason Day withdraws from Presidents Cup

Australian fans hoping to catch a rare glimpse of Jason Day playing on home soil at next month’s Presidents Cup have been dealt a blow with news that the former world No.1 is OUT of the match.

Day, 32, has withdrawn from Ernie Els’ International side with a back injury, less than two weeks before they take on an American team captained by Tiger Woods at Royal Melbourne.

Day, who was named as one of Els’ picks earlier this month, has been replaced in the side by Byeong-Hun An.

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“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,” said Els.

“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.”

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Day added: “I’m quite disappointed I won’t be coming home to play in either the
Australian Open in Sydney or the Presidents Cup the following week in
Melbourne.

“I was quite looking forward to both events. I had been prepping all
week in Palm Springs when I was injured. Frustratingly, I’ve been
through back problems before and my medical team decided it best to shut
down all practice and play.

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Day’s withdrawal follows that of current world No.1 Brooks Koepka,
who pulled out of the US team last week after failing to recover in
time from a knee injury he aggravated during October’s CJ Cup. Rickie
Fowler took the four-time major champion’s place in the side.

The US is bidding to extend its winning run in the competition to eight matches in a row, stretching back to 2003, when it finished in a 17-17 tie.

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The International side has won only one edition of the 12 Presidents Cups played to date. That came in 1998 – at Royal Melbourne.

This year’s contest takes place from December 12-15.