Geoff Ogilvy explains Jason Day Presidents Cup snub after Ryder Cup warning

Geoff Ogilvy has revealed that the memory of Viktor Hovland’s injury-enforced absence at last year’s Ryder Cup was in his mind when he made the difficult decision to leave Jason Day out of the International Presidents Cup team.

Ogilvy completed his 12-man team on Tuesday night after naming his six captain’s picks, with U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker doing the same for the American side.

For Ogilvy, however, the final selection came down to a particularly difficult call. 

Day, a five-time Presidents Cup player, major champion and former World No.1, was an obvious candidate — but the Australian’s ongoing back problem left too much uncertainty over whether he could make it through the week.

Day, 38, has been dealing with the injury since withdrawing from the U.S. Open in June and, despite remaining high on Ogilvy’s list of preferred players, was ultimately deemed too much of a risk.

“I spoke to Jason quite a lot, sort of between post-British Open, I would say,” Ogilvy said during a media call on Tuesday. 

“It just didn't feel a hundred percent guarantee that he could make it through four days of the Presidents Cup.

“It was a bit risky. He's clearly one of the first players from our list of players to choose from, and he needs to rehab it and make it feel better. To rush his rehab and hope it lasts for a week, that feels a bit risky.”

Day played in his first Presidents Cup match in 2011, and also played in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2024. 

The decision to leave Day out of the 2026 contest appears to have been influenced by what unfolded at Bethpage during the 2025 Ryder Cup.

Europe’s Hovland was unable to play his scheduled Sunday singles match against Harris English after his injury problems left him unable to compete. 

Under the Ryder Cup’s controversial Envelope Rule, the match was recorded as a tie, with each team receiving half a point.

The episode provided a stark reminder of the problems a captain can face when taking an injured player into a team match-play event.

Ogilvy was not prepared to take the same gamble.

“It was sort of on my mind a little bit, too,” he said. “I talked about it with Jason a little bit, and it's a shame, as I said, because he's played a lot of Presidents Cup, and he's clearly a class act and a major winner and former No.1 in the world.

“It was my decision in the end, but it felt like the right decision. He needs to go and look after his back and get himself back to 100%.”

Instead, Ogilvy completed his team with South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, alongside Corey Conners, Nico Echavarria, Nick Taylor, Ryo Hisatsune and Sungjae Im.

Those six will join the International side’s automatic qualifiers: Hideki Matsuyama, Si Woo Kim, Adam Scott, Min Woo Lee, Tom Kim and Open champion Ryan Fox.

Bezuidenhout was arguably the most surprising of Ogilvy’s selections on the surface. 

The 32-year-old was outside the top 15 in the International standings, finished 97th in the FedEx Cup and recorded only two top-10 finishes during the season.

His world ranking of 96 also made him look like an unlikely selection when compared with some of the players left out.

But Ogilvy insisted the decision was based on far more than the Official World Golf Ranking.

“He's a bit of a sort of an outlier in that his world ranking doesn't reflect his skill level,” Ogilvy said.

The South African’s underlying numbers, particularly his strokes-gained statistics, iron play and putting, made him a much more attractive option. His Presidents Cup record was another significant factor.

Bezuidenhout has already represented the International team twice, earning 3.5 points from five matches, including two singles victories.

“Christiaan has experience in this event that would have been difficult to leave on the table,” Ogilvy said. “He knows what to expect and he delivers.”

There was also an intriguing contrast with Snedeker’s selections for the United States.

The American team already contained World No.1 and FedEx Cup champion Scottie Scheffler, Players Championship winner Cameron Young, U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa.

Snedeker then added Chris Gotterup, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Jacob Bridgeman and Jackson Koivun with his six captain’s picks.

The Americans also passed on J.J. Spaun, who is ranked No. 17 in the world but had his own fitness concern after withdrawing from last week’s Tour Championship with a right shoulder injury.

Ogilvy therefore faced a choice between reputation, experience and potential upside on one hand, and certainty over fitness on the other.

With 13-time PGA Tour winner Day, the risk was particularly difficult to justify given his importance to the International team. 

Day has been one of the side’s most experienced players since making his Presidents Cup debut in 2011, and his five appearances give him considerably more experience of the event than many of Ogilvy’s selections.

But the captain ultimately decided that experience counted for little if Day could not be guaranteed to complete the week.

The Hovland situation at Bethpage offered a timely warning: in a team competition where every available player can become crucial, carrying an injured star can create a problem that no captain wants to face.

For Ogilvy, that made Day’s omission less about overlooking one of the International team’s biggest names and more about ensuring he had 12 players he could trust to compete when the Presidents Cup begins.

The Internationals will attempt to win just their second ever Presidents Cup at Medinah from 25-27 September, and their first ever away from home. 

The Americans have won the last 10 contests, and on paper at least, it will be a huge surprise if that doesn't become 11.