Jason Day’s early 2026 season looked like a promising one. The 13-time PGA Tour winner opened the season with a runner-up finish at The American Express in January and a T12 at the Masters. The momentum, however, didn’t last long. By August, his back derailed him at the Wyndham Championship and even forced him to snap an 18-year streak of appearances in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Now, the same injury has overshadowed his presence at the Presidents Cup, leaving captain Geoff Ogilvy with a tough decision.

Geoff Ogilvy named Jason Day one of his picks for the International Team last month, naturally so, as the Australian is 11th in the standings despite a slow off-season. But now, with the Cup just a week away, Ogilvy is rethinking his decision.

“I spoke to Jason quite a lot, sort of between the post-British Open, I would say. It didn’t just feel like a 100% guarantee that he could make it through four days of the Presidents Cup. It was a bit risky. It was sort of on my mind a little bit too. It’s a shame, as I said, because he played a lot of Presidents Cup, and he’s clearly a class act and a major winner and a 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 percent.” Ogilvy said in a conversation with Golfweek.

His back problems go back over a decade. Doctors first found an annular tear in his L4-L5 discs in 2019. He underwent surgery to sever nerve roots in his spine the following year. For a few seasons after that, he stayed relatively healthy. But this year, the pain came back. More specifically, the trouble resurfaced at the U.S. Open in June. Starting on the back nine at Shinnecock Hills, Day made six straight bogeys and looked increasingly uncomfortable, repeatedly reaching for his lower back between the shots. After ten holes, seven over par, he withdrew and was carted off the course by his caddie.

Following the same injury, he missed the cut at the Open Championship the following month and then withdrew from the 3M Open in late July. He’s still dealing with the same injury. A week after that, he pulled out of the Rocket Classic, his second straight tournament withdrawal due to the back. The toll has added up as he had to miss the FedEx Cup playoffs for the first time in 18 years, finishing 82nd in the standings.

This would have been Day’s sixth Presidents Cup appearance following starts in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2024. He last played at Royal Montreal, where Xander Schauffele beat him 4&3 in Sunday singles during a lopsided U.S. win.

In his place, Ogilvy has turned to Christiaan Bezuidenhout. The 32-year-old South African sat outside the top 15 in the international standings but has played the last two Presidents Cups and built a reputation as a reliable teammate.

“Christiaan has experience in this event that would have been difficult to leave on the table. He earned 3.5 points in five matches, including two singles victories. He knows what to expect, and he delivers,” said the captain.

On paper, Bezuidenhout’s season doesn’t jump out. He finished 97th in the FedEx Cup, missing the playoffs with only two top-10s all year. But Ogilvy leaned on a different metric to justify the pick: “If you look at the strokes-gained world ranking and not the official world ranking, he’s right up there in the middle of our list.”

Presidents Cup 2026 welcomes a new player

While Day’s exit has been a shock to the Presidents Cup, Jackson Koivun’s entry has also stirred some conversations.

U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker used his final pick on Jackson Koivun, a 21-year-old who turned pro only this summer. It’s about as unconventional a call as a captain can make, and Snedeker knew it could raise eyebrows. But his reasoning traces back to one tournament. Koivun had missed the cut in his professional debut at the John Deere Classic but quickly made up for it by winning the 3M Open just two starts later. Notably, he held off a hard-charging Scottie Scheffler down the stretch. That result alone reshaped how Snedeker viewed him.

“What he did at 3M and what he did in his amateur career, what he brings to the table, I think is something we want to take a hard look at. I know what this guy is capable of,” said Snedeker

Koivun isn’t walking cold either. He led Auburn to an NCAA title and helped with the U.S. win in the 2025 Walker Cup. So match play isn’t a new territory for him despite his short pro career. He became the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2013 to make the national team without a tour card to his name.

“Match play is one of my favorite formats. It’s so exciting playing on a team, bringing guys you can call your brothers for the rest of your life,” Koivun said.

So the 2026 Cup arrives with two contrasting stories already written: a veteran forced out by a back injury and a rookie who walked straight into the biggest stage of the sport before he had even played a full year as a professional. It’s certainly an interesting start to the week.