Junior Presidents Cup: Omar Khalid shortlisted to play for international team

KARACHI: Pakistan's top amateur Omar Khalid on Friday has been shortlisted to represent the international team which will take on the United States team in this year's Junior Presidents Cup to be held in Charlotte, North Carolina (USA) next month.

The American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) and the Presidents Cup organisers have included Omar in the shortlist for the 12-member international team which will include the world's top junior players from all over the world except USA.

If Omar makes it to the final team, he will be the first Pakistani player to play in the Junior Presidents Cup. Omar, who last year became the youngest player to win the Pakistan Amateurs at 16, made history last month when he became the first golfer from his country to make the cut at any USGA event. Omar played rounds of 73 and 70 at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Oregon (USA) in the 2022 US Junior Amateur Championship to qualify for the match-play round.

The international team and USA will meet in the third edition of the Junior President Cup to be held on September 19-20 at Myers Park Country Club in Charlotte prior to the start of the 2022 Presidents Cup at nearby Quail Hollow Club.

USA’s Notah Begay III and South Africa’s Tim Clark have been announced as captains of the US and international teams, respectively.

The Junior Presidents Cup is a two-day, team match-play competition featuring 24 of the world’s top junior boys 19 years old and younger – 12 from the US and 12 from around the world, excluding Europe – that takes place just days before the start of the biennial Presidents Cup. The Junior Presidents Cup was developed to give the world’s best non-European juniors a unique playing opportunity to compete in an international team match-play competition and showcase the global reach of junior golf.

The teams will compete in six four-ball and foursomes matches on September 19, followed by 12 Singles matches on September 20.

The US Team defeated the International Team by a score of 13-11 in the second edition of the Junior Presidents Cup in 2019 at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia, where Justin Leonard captained the US Team and Australia’s Stuart Appleby led the International Team.