Ernie Els (left) celebrates with An Byeong-hun during the Presidents Cup in Melbourne on Thursday. Photo: AFP

 

International captain Ernie Els hailed his seven rookies after taking a 4-1 Presidents Cup lead Thursday and the experienced Louis Oosthuizen said the veterans were feeding off the youngsters' energy.

There was concern ahead of the biennial match play event at Royal Melbourne that the ­newcomers could be overawed by the ­experience.

But it has proven to be the opposite, with the Internationals leading after the opening session for the first time since 2005.

Among the first-timers, South Koreans Im Sung-jae and An Byeong-hun, along with CT Pan of Chinese Taipei and Mexico's Abraham Ancer all tasted victory in their maiden Presidents Cup matches.

The only newcomer to lose was exciting Chilean 21-year-old Joaquin Niemann, teamed with Australia's Marc Leishman, but the defeat was at the hands of 15-time major winner Tiger Woods and world number four Justin Thomas.

Two rookies, China's Li Haotong and Australian Cameron Smith, did not play on Thursday.

"I think a lot of us are feeding off the energy. We have a great bunch of rookies on the team," said Oosthuizen, who is playing in his fourth Presidents Cup. 

"I've said this a few times -- they are in great form, and watching them play a practice round, us senior boys are trying to feed off their energy," said the South African.

"I was just a passenger today in a car watching Abe [Ancer] just playing unbelievable golf. So it was fun to see him, how motivated and focused how was on the golf course, and we are all just in a good place," he added.

The Internationals have failed to win the Presidents Cup since 1998 and Adam Scott, playing in his ninth edition, said the debutants were not carrying any scar tissue from the previous defeats.

"I think they don't know any different, you know. They have just come out and won matches today. It's a nice way for them to start their Presidents Cup careers," he said. "I hope that gives them a lot more confidence for the rest of the week and they play with that confidence."

Im, 21, credited Els for his flying start. "Surprisingly I wasn't too ­nervous. I was going to hit a three-iron off the tee but Ernie came up and advised me to hit a driver since the pin was to the left and obviously it worked out really well," he said.