Kim Si-woo and Tom Kim will carry South Korea’s flag at the 2026 Presidents Cup after both secured automatic places on the International Team when the qualifying rankings were finalized on Tuesday.
The six automatic berths were locked in based on Official World Golf Ranking positions following the Tour Championship, the final PGA Tour playoff event, which concluded at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta over the weekend. Kim Si-woo, ranked 13th in the world, enters as the highest-ranked player on the International Team and will make his fourth Presidents Cup appearance. Tom Kim, ranked 30th, finished fifth in the International Team standings and will play in his third.
They headline a six-man automatic qualifying group that also includes Ryan Fox of New Zealand, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, and the Australian pair of Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott. Six captain’s picks will complete the 12-man roster that faces a heavily favored American side at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois, later this month.
International Team automatic qualifiers for the 2026 Presidents Cup, finalized Sept. 1, 2026PlayerCountryWorld rankingPresidents Cup appearancesKim Si-wooSouth Korea13FourthTom KimSouth Korea30ThirdRyan FoxNew ZealandNot stated in selection reportUnder verificationHideki MatsuyamaJapanNot stated in selection reportUnder verificationMin Woo LeeAustraliaNot stated in selection reportUnder verificationAdam ScottAustraliaNot stated in selection reportUnder verificationKim Si-woo’s Career Season
The 31-year-old Kim Si-woo arrives at Medinah with arguably the most consistent season of his career. His 11 top-10 finishes rank second on the PGA Tour this season, and he leads the circuit with 55 rounds in the 60s and 66 rounds under par, according to figures reported by Yonhap News Agency.
The consistency translated into money and history. By tying Tom Kim for 14th place at the Tour Championship, Kim Si-woo became the first South Korean to earn more than $10 million (approximately KES 1.29 billion) in prize money in a single PGA Tour season, Yonhap reported.
His peak moment came at the CJ Cup Byron Nelson, where he fired a career-best 11-under 60, missing a 59 only when he bogeyed the final hole. A former Players Championship winner, the man born in Seoul in June 1995 has now compiled four PGA Tour titles and will bring a steady, low-variance game to a match play format that has often punished the International side.
Tom Kim’s Return to Form
Tom Kim, 23, forced his way back into automatic contention with a breakthrough summer. He won the Genesis Scottish Open in July for his first title since October 2023, then recorded four top-20 finishes in his six tournaments since, form that carried him to fifth in the International standings and a 30th-place world ranking.
The victory restored the shine to one of golf’s fastest rises. The PGA Tour has noted that Kim became the first player since Tiger Woods to win twice on the PGA Tour before turning 21, a run that made him the face of the International Team at the 2022 and 2024 editions.
He also brings proven partnership chemistry. At the 2024 Presidents Cup in Montreal, Kim and Kim Si-woo were paired in fourballs and delivered one of the International side’s most emotional sessions, with the younger Kim visibly fired up and his senior partner matching the energy in a Saturday victory over American opposition.
The Road to Medinah
The venue adds another layer of drama. Medinah Country Club hosted the 2012 Ryder Cup, remembered for Europe’s famous final-day comeback, and its course has a long history of producing theater in team match play. The International Team, drawn from players outside Europe, has won the cup only once, in 1998, and tied in 2003; the United States has dominated every other edition.
Australian Geoff Ogilvy, appointed International captain in 2024, will now use his six picks to round out a roster that blends Asian, Pacific and, in past editions, South African and Canadian talent. For Kim Si-woo, the week in Illinois represents a fourth attempt to help close a gap that has defined the competition for nearly three decades.
Why It Matters Beyond Korea
The dual qualification underscores how thoroughly South Korean men’s golf has embedded itself at the top of the professional game, a pipeline built on junior programs and tour success that now regularly produces multiple PGA Tour winners from one country.
For golf followers in emerging markets, including Kenya, where the Magical Kenya Open at Muthaiga Golf Club has become a fixture on the DP World Tour calendar, the Presidents Cup roster shows how quickly national programs can move from feeder status to supplying the highest-ranked players in a global team event. The biennial format, pitting the United States against the rest of the world outside Europe, remains the clearest benchmark of that progress.
The 2026 Presidents Cup begins later this month at Medinah, where the International Team will again try to convert depth in world rankings, now anchored by its highest-ranked player in Kim Si-woo, into a first cup victory since 1998.