Opinion: Trevor Immelman should stay as International captain for Montreal 2024

We got the result we expected at the 2022 Presidents Cup: A comfortable victory for the USA. It wasn't as comfortable as many thought, but it was comfortable.

There were many matches throughout the week in the balance and if you were an International team fan, you may feel aggrieved that some putts didn't fall your way.

Davis Love III's side kept Trevor Immelman's men at arm's length at Quail Hollow. They entered the Sunday singles with an 11-7 lead and although the US skipper didn't like this number, the inevitable result came when Xander Schauffele beat Corey Conners 1 up.

It was a monumental effort from the International side. They had eight rookies and their youngest ever team in the event's history. Tom Kim became the third-youngest player to ever tee it up in the tournament that began in 1994.

Taylor Pendrith is ranked 104th in the world, Si Woo Kim is 76th and Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Sebastian Munoz and Cam Davis are all ranked in the 60s.

Thank you, Captain @TrevorImmelman #IntlTeam pic.twitter.com/aD1HS1BVd0

— Presidents Cup International Team (@IntlTeam) September 26, 2022

They were called upon when the likes of Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann, Louis Oosthuizen and Abraham Ancer moved to LIV Golf and took themselves out of the running to participate.

Immelman galvanised these players to make America sweat. This was no normal American side either with 10 players from the top 16 in the world. It is a generational team that will be favourite to win the Ryder Cup in 2023.

Immelman inspired Si Woo Kim to beat Justin Thomas in the Sunday singles, Sebastian Munoz to take down World No.1 Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim to become everyone's new favourite player with his pulsating celebrations and fist-pumping antics.

Immelman has passion running through his veins and bursting out his ears for the International team. He was full of pride despite losing 17.5 - 12.5 in North Carolina.

"We love everything that this team stands for. We love everything that this competition stands for. And we've been really excited to have this opportunity against the Americans on home soil for quite some time," Immelman said.

"Just how these guys came together. It's an extremely, extremely tight locker room. Our caddies, our wives and partners, everybody, we just had an amazing week. And they were fighting.

A champion forever. #IntlTeam #PresidentsCup pic.twitter.com/EAi8eew2Ms

— Presidents Cup International Team (@IntlTeam) September 25, 2022

"Man, they were fighting. I hope fans out there really do appreciate it. These guys have got massive hearts. Massive hearts. And I'll go to battle with them any day."

The natural thing to do is to look ahead to the 2024 Presidents Cup at the Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada. It would be a huge mistake for the International team to appoint a new captain and split with Immelman.

From the raucous celebrations to the memorable image of the International team standing as one watching Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim beat Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay on Saturday, Immelman is the human embodiment of that spirit.

Ahead of the first session last Thursday, the former Masters champion called his team a "tight group." The tightness of this group will diminish if he's not captain in two years' time.

The next two years can be used for the International franchise to build relationships with these players and other players who missed out in 2022, but could be involved in 2024.

"Look, it's too soon to tell. We are going to go back as a unit and decide how we will move forward with the next few venues, and then we will let the PGA Tour know what our plan is," the 42-year-old said to a question on his involvement in Canada.

Youth is one of the only things that the Internationals matched America for this week. Players such as Tom Kim and Sungjae Im have many more Presidents Cups ahead of them and I don't know what the team would achieve by halting the progress made with Immelman by their side.