Els wants Aust home advantage for 2019 Cup

Internationals captain-elect Ernie Els wants to be hands-on in setting up Royal Melbourne for the 2019 Presidents Cup.

Captain-elect Ernie Els has vowed to influence the set-up of Royal Melbourne as best he can in order to give the Internationals a home advantage at the 2019 Presidents Cup.

On Tuesday, Els was unveiled as captain of the underdog Internationals for the 2019 edition while 14-time major winner Tiger Woods will head the dominant American side.

The announcement comes months after Els, while an assistant captain, took aim at Cup organiser the US PGA Tour following the Internationals' 19-11 drubbing in New York last year.

It was the Americans' seventh straight victory in the heavily lopsided series, with the Internationals having won just one title - at Royal Melbourne in 1998.

Four-time major winner Els made demands for several changes to the format and they seem to have been met.

Four captain's picks, up from two, will now join eight qualifiers when the teams are finalised after the 2019 Tour Championship.

In addition, each of the 12 players has to contest at least one match prior to the singles, as opposed to two matches.

But Els also wants to be hands-on in setting up Royal Melbourne, similar to the way the PGA of America and the European Tour allow a Ryder Cup host nation to dictate the condition of their venue.

However, 48-year-old South African Els says he's at the mercy of the US Tour.

"I'm going to (try), but they've got some rules in place that I didn't know," Els told AAP.

"I can suggest high rough, low rough ... I'll definitely be chatting to the guys.

"Basically, the course set-up is going to be dictated by the tournament director going into the week (liaising) with the course superintendent."

Els would likely want to see Royal Melbourne running hard and fast with slick greens, demanding imaginative shots American players rarely receive on the US Tour.

This would favour the Internationals, who traditionally have a large Australian contingent with in-depth knowledge of the famed Melbourne sand belt course.

Els said several requests had already been knocked back.

"I couldn't get them to allow me to decide where the flags would go; I did raise it with them but they said no."

It will be the third time Royal Melbourne has hosted the Presidents Cup after the 1998 and 2011 editions.


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Source: AAP



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