Els also picked Adam Hadwin, Sungjae Im and Joaquin Niemann in his 12-strong team to face the United States.

"I want to thank Ernie for having the faith in me and I'm looking forward to catching up with the team," Day said.

US captain Tiger Woods is expected to select himself when he announces his wildcard picks on Friday.

The Presidents Cup takes place from 12-15 December and the International team is the youngest ever with the average age of the 12 players just over 29.

Niemann will be the first player from Chile to compete in the biennial tournament, which follows the same format as the Ryder Cup, and received the news on his 21st birthday.

"This is really big for my country and South America," Niemann said.

"Golf has been growing a lot in Chile and this is going to help those kids who are growing up and starting to play the game."

The 21-year-old South Korean Im, who was named PGA Tour rookie of the year for the 2018-19 season, will also be making his debut in the competition.

Canadian Hadwin will be making his second appearance after being on the losing side in 2017.

Full International team: Marc Leishman, Hideki Matsuyama, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott, Abraham Ancer, Li Haotong, Pan Cheng-tsung, Cameron Smith, Jason Day, Adam Hadwin, Sungjae Im and Joaquin Niemann