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Captains Named for Junior Presidents Cup

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Melbourne, Victoria, AUS – The PGA TOUR and American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) announced Australia’s Stuart Appleby and the United States’ Justin Leonard as captains of the International and U.S. Teams, respectively, for the 2019 Junior Presidents Cup. The event will be contested for the second time Dec. 8-9, 2019 at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia just days before the Presidents Cup tees off at the same venue.

Appleby is a five-time representative for the International Team (1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007) and nine-time PGA TOUR winner, with his most recent victory taking place at A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in 2010, where Appleby became the fifth player in PGA TOUR history to card a 59. His birdie from just outside 10 feet on the par-3 18th hole at The Old White TPC capped off his historic round, which erased a seven-stroke final-round deficit and led to a one-stroke victory.

A Cohuna, Australia native, the 47-year-old also has two Web.com Tour victories and three titles on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia, including the 2001 Australian Open and 2010 Australian Masters.

“Junior golf has developed greatly from when I was a youth when we did not have opportunities such as this,” Appleby said. “Having competed on the victorious 1998 International Team at Royal Melbourne I want to share that experience with these kids because they are future PGA TOUR and Presidents Cup Team members on both the U.S. and International Teams.”

The Junior Presidents Cup captaincy is seemingly a perfect fit for Appleby, who focuses his charitable pursuits on helping junior golfers through his foundation. The key vision of the Stuart Appleby Junior Golf Foundation is to provide quality, fun golf experiences to junior golfers throughout Victoria, which is evidenced by his annual Stuart Appleby Rookie Series events. Allied to this are the opportunities that the game of golf can provide to Victorian youth at club level and beyond, along with opportunities for career development in golf.

“I owe so much to the game of golf.  It has presented a kid like me from Cohuna, Australia to travel from the dairy farm around the world,” Appleby said. “The game gives so many opportunities and teaches lessons that kids can learn whether they pursue it as a profession or simply enjoy the game as a hobby. I feel I owe it to take the lessons I have learned from the game and help provide those to other kids who truly will be the future of golf on all levels.”  

Leonard joins Appleby with five Presidents Cup appearances on his resume (1996, 1998, 2003, 2005, 2009) as well as three Ryder Cup stints (1997, 1999, 2008) representing the U.S. The Dallas native competed at the University of Texas where he was a two-time All-American, winner of the 1992 U.S. Amateur and was named the 1994 Haskins Award winner as the country’s most outstanding college golfer.

Leonard made his PGA TOUR debut that same year after becoming the fourth golfer to advance directly from college to the TOUR without going through Q-School. He is a 12-time winner on the PGA TOUR, including The Open Championship in 1997, which he followed up a year later with his triumph at THE PLAYERS in 1998.

“It is a true honor to be named captain of this year’s Junior Presidents Cup team,” Leonard said. “I am so excited to be part of representing the U.S. with the best junior golfers our country has to offer. It will be so special for these young players to compete on the same course, Royal Melbourne, that the pros will play just a few days later.

“After attending the Junior Presidents Cup [in 2017] to watch my nephew, Turner Hosch, compete, I realized how special this event is for all involved. I look forward to sharing my experience as a player and watch with awe how these junior golfers play the game.”

Leonard, who competed in 23 AJGA events from 1986-1990, knows firsthand the impact the organization has in developing golf’s next generation, as evidenced by his sponsorship of the AJGA’s Justin Leonard/Deloitte Junior Championship, which was contested from 1998-2006 in his native Dallas.

“It is amazing to see the impact the AJGA has had on growing the game of golf and giving these boys and girls the chance to compete at such a high level,” Leonard said. “Competing in AJGA events helped prepare me physically and emotionally to take my game to the next level. The memories and friendships I cultivated during my junior golf days are ones that last a lifetime.”

Leonard and Appleby faced off three times in the Presidents Cup, including twice at Royal Melbourne in 1998, where the two halved their first-day foursomes match before Appleby and Vijay Singh defeated Leonard and Tiger Woods in four-ball later that afternoon.

The U.S. Team will be made up of the leading 12 qualified players based on the Rolex AJGA Rankings as of Sept. 5, 2019. In the event of a tie for 12th place, the selection will be decided by the individual ranked highest on the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR™) list at that time.

The International Team will be made up of the leading 12 qualified players based on the World Amateur Golf Ranking™ (WAGR™) as of Sept. 5, 2019. In the event of a tie for 12th place, the selection will be decided by the individual ranked highest on the most recent previous WAGR™ revision.

The U.S. Team defeated the International Team by a score of 14-10 in the inaugural Junior Presidents Cup in 2017 at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey, where David Toms captained the U.S. Team and South Africa’s Trevor Immelman led the International Team.

Click here for complete Junior Presidents Cup Team Standings.

For more information about the 2019 Junior Presidents Cup, please visit PresidentsCup.com .

           

About the Junior Presidents Cup

The Junior Presidents Cup is a two-day, spirited team match-play competition featuring 24 of the world’s top junior boys 19 years old and younger – 12 from the United States 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 next generation of Presidents Cup participants will take center stage when the 2019 Junior Presidents Cup matches take place at The Royal Melbourne Golf Club on December 8-9 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

 

About the AJGA

The American Junior Golf Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the overall growth and development of young men and women who aspire to earn college golf scholarships through competitive junior golf. The AJGA provides valuable exposure for college golf scholarships, and has an annual junior membership (boys and girls, ages 12-19) of more than 7,000 members from 50 states and 60 foreign countries. Through initiatives like the Achieving Competitive Excellence (ACE) Grant, a financial assistance program, and Leadership Links, a service-oriented platform that teaches juniors charitable-giving skills, the AJGA fosters the growth of golf’s next generation.

TaylorMade and adidas are the AJGA’s National Sponsors, supporting the AJGA for more than 25 years. TaylorMade has served as the Official Ball of the AJGA since 2016. adidas has been the Official Apparel and Footwear of the AJGA since 2017.  Rolex, in its fourth decade of AJGA sponsorship, became the inaugural AJGA Premier Partner in 2004.

AJGA alumni have risen to the top of amateur, collegiate and professional golf. Former AJGA juniors have compiled more than 900 victories on the PGA and LPGA Tours. AJGA alumni include Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Justin Leonard, Phil Mickelson, Patrick Reed, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer, Ariya Jutanugarn, Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis, Brittany Lincicome, Anna Nordqvist, Inbee Park and Lexi Thompson.

 

About the Presidents Cup

The Presidents Cup, a team match play competition featuring 24 of the world’s top golfers – 12 from the United States and 12 from around the world, excluding Europe – is held every two years, and since 1996 has alternated between United States and international venues. The Presidents Cup was developed to give the world’s best non-European players an opportunity to compete in international team match-play competition. The U.S. Team has won nine of the 11 previous Presidents Cups, and the only outright win by the International Team came at the 1998 event in Melbourne. A historic 17-17 tie came in 2003 when the event was held in South Africa.

Citi and Rolex are the exclusive Global Partners of the Presidents Cup.

 

About Citi

Citi, the leading global bank, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.

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About Rolex

An unrivalled reputation for quality and expertise Rolex, a Swiss watch manufacture headquartered in Geneva, is recognized the world over for its expertise and the quality of its products. Its Oyster and Cellini watches, all certified as Superlative Chronometers for their precision, performance and reliability, are symbols of excellence, elegance and prestige. Founded by Hans Wilsdorf in 1905, the brand pioneered the development of the wristwatch and is at the origin of numerous major watchmaking innovations, such as the Oyster, the first waterproof wristwatch, launched in 1926, and the Perpetual rotor self-winding mechanism invented in 1931. Rolex has registered over 500 patents in the course of its history. A truly integrated and independent manufacturing company, Rolex designs, develops and produces in-house all the essential components of its watches, from the casting of the gold alloys to the machining, crafting, assembly and finishing of the movement, case, dial and bracelet. Through philanthropic programmes and a broad palette of sponsorship activities, Rolex is also actively involved in supporting the arts, sports and exploration, and encourages the spirit of enterprise, as well as the conservation of natural environments.