World-class field, venue on show at World Cup of Golf

The eyes of world golf will be fixed firmly on Melbourne this month, as players from 28 countries will battle it out for glory in the entrancing and exciting World Cup of Golf.

Played at the renowned Kingston Heath Golf Club from November 23-27, the event will showcase one of the most exciting fields we’ve seen Down Under, with names like Rickie Fowler, Jimmy Walker, Danny Willett, Lee Westwood, Hideki Matsuyama, Graeme McDowell, Francesco Molinari, Jhonattan Vegas, Graham DeLaet and many other world-class players taking centre stage.

Of course, most of the local fans will be barracking for the Aussie team of Adam Scott and Marc Leishman, with Australia a red-hot favourite to successfully defend the title that Jason Day and Adam Scott captured in 2013.

Leishman will be making his first World Cup of Golf appearance. Winner of the 2012 Travelers Championship on the PGA TOUR, Leishman has five other international victories, including his most recent at the 2015 Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa on the European Tour last December. Leishman was voted Rookie of the Year in 2009 on the PGA TOUR after three top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish to Tiger Woods at the BMW Championship.

Scott and Leishman were teammates on the International Team in The Presidents Cup in 2013 and in 2015. The two were paired together in 2015 during the Saturday foursomes where they defeated Bubba Watson and J.B. Holmes 1-up. Leishman also defeated Jordan Spieth that year in singles play.

“I’m extremely excited about playing in the World Cup of Golf with Adam. I can’t wait to represent my country back home in Australia,” Leishman said.

Scott returns to Kingston Heath as a player with a successful history at the world-renowned course, including a victory at the Australian Masters in 2012. A 13-time winner on the PGA TOUR, Scott is one of five players with multiple victories on TOUR this season with wins in back-to-back weeks at the Honda Classic and the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship.

Kingston Heath Golf Club should prove to be a fitting venue for the event. Inside Golf played the course last month in the lead-up to the event, and we can attest that it not only is a fantastic test of golf, but the current conditioning is pristine, with the greens running quick and true.

“It’s (Kingston Heath) probably in the top three, to be honest,” Leishman notes. “Along with Augusta National Golf Club and St. Andrews. Kingston Heath is not long, it’s a very fun golf course and you can shoot really low there. You’ll have a lot of wedges in your hand – you have to be really precise.”

Many believe that the 2016 World Cup of Golf will show the golf world what the recent Olympic golf format should have been, with the first and third days of the 72-hole teams competition played in a foursomes (alternate shot) format, while the second and final days are fourball (best ball) play.

First played in 1953 – the World Cup of Golf one of the oldest and most prestigious global golf team events in the world. This year marks the 58th staging of the event, and the fifth time in the tournament’s history that it will be played in Australia. Names such as Snead, Hogan, Nicklaus, Palmer, Trevino, Faldo, Ballesteros, Langer, Woods, Els and Day have all been able to call themselves World Champions.

The World Cup will be broadcast on the Seven Network, but fans in Melbourne will doubtless flock to the event in person, as there simply is no better way to watch the world’s top players than right up close.

Tickets and hospitality packages are available by visiting the World Cup of Golf website at www.WorldCupofGolf.com.

WIN!

“Tag a Mate” to win tickets to the World Cup of Golf

Inside Golf and the World Cup of Golf are offering some amazing World Cup of Golf prizes for some lucky Inside Golf Readers

The top prize – A World Cup of Golf Prize Pack:

(2) Weekend passes (valued at $105 each)

(2) World Cup of Golf Hats

(2) sleeves of World Cup of Golf Branded balls

(1) Peter Thomson Book

In addition, we are offering 5 pairs of “Seasons passes” (Wed-Sunday Gen admission) valued at $180 per pass.

To enter, click here

World Cup of Golf 2016 Field

Player                             Country      Partner

Adam Scott                   AUS             Marc Leishman

Rickie Fowler               USA             Jimmy Walker

Danny Willett               ENG             Lee Westwood

Hideki Matsuyama    JPN              Ryo Ishikawa

Russell Knox                 SCO              Duncan Stewart

Rafa Cabrera Bello     ESP               Jon Rahm

Shane Lowry                IRL                Graeme McDowell

Byeong Hun An           KOR             K.T. Kim

Thongchai Jaidee       THA              Kiradech Aphibarnrat

Soren Kjeldsen           DEN             Thorbjorn Olesen

Danny Lee                     NZL              Ryan Fox

Alex Noren                   SWE             David Lingmerth

Francesco Molinari    ITA               Matteo Manassero

Bernd Wiesberger     AUT             Martin Wiegele

Thomas Pieters           BEL               Nicolas Colsaerts

Joost Luiten                  NED             Darius van Driel

Jaco Van Zyl                  RSA              George Coetzee

Jamie Donaldson        WAL             Bradley Dredge

Jhonattan Vegas        VEN             Julio Vegas

Victor Dubuisson        FRA              Romain Langasque

Alex Cejka                     GER              Stephan Jaeger

Ricardo Gouveia         POR             Jose-Filipe Lima

David Hearn                 CAN             Graham DeLaet

Ashun Wu                     CHN             Haotong Li

Miguel Tabuena         PHI               Angelo Que

Cheng Tsung Pan       TPE               Chan Shih-chang

SSP Chawrasia             IND              S Chikarangappa

Danny Chia                   MAS            Nicholas Fung

DID YOU KNOW?
The World Cup of Golf field includes:

• Two major championship winners from 2016. Jimmy Walker (US PGA Championship) and Danny Willett (The Masters)
• 27 Olympians
• 18 past participants of either The Ryder Cup or The Presidents Cup
• 6 players from the 2016 Ryder Cup (Rickie Fowler, Jimmy Walker, Danny Willet,  Lee Westwood, Rafa Cabrera Bello, and Thomas Pieters)
• 3 players in the top 10 and 17 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking
• 3 past World Cup of Golf champions – Adam Scott, Francesco Molinari and Bradley Dredge

Previous World Cup of Golf events in Australia:

Year       Winning Country/Players

1959       Australia (Peter Thomson/Kel Nagle)

1972       Chinese Taipei (Hsieh Min-Nan/Lu Liang-Huan)

1988       United States (Ben Crenshaw/Mark McCumber)

2013       Australia (Jason Day/Adam Scott)

World Cup of Golf Performance by nation

World Cup of Golf Results since 2000

2013
Winning Country: Australia
Team: Jason Day & Adam Scott
Individual: Jason Day
Location: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Course: Royal Melbourne Golf Club

2011
Winning Country: United States
Team: Matt Kuchar & Gary Woodland
Location: Haikou, Hainan Island, China
Course: Mission Hills Golf Club

2009
Winning Country: Italy
Team: Edoardo Molinari & Francesco Molinari
Location: Shenzhen, China
Course: Mission Hills Golf Club

2008
Winning Country: Sweden
Team: Robert Karlsson & Henrik Stenson
Location: Shenzhen, China
Course: Mission Hills Golf Club

2007
Winning Country: Scotland
Team: Colin Montgomerie & Marc Warren
Location: Shenzhen, China
Course: Mission Hills Golf Club

2006
Winning Country: Germany
Team: Bernhard Langer & Marcel Siem
Location: Saint James, Barbados
Course: Sandy Lane Resort

2005
Winning Country: Wales
Team: Bradley Dredge & Stephen Dodd
Location: Vilamoura, Portugal
Course: Victoria Clube de Golfe

2004
Winning Country: England
Team: Paul Casey & Luke Donald
Location: Seville, Spain
Course: Real Club de Golfe de Seville

2003
Winning Country: South Africa
Team: Trevor Immelman & Rory Sabbatini
Location: Kiawah Island, South Carolina, United States
Course: Kiawah Island Golf Resort

2002
Winning Country: Japan
Team: Toshi Izawa & Shigeki Maruyama
Location: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Course: Vista Vallarta GC

2001
Winning Country: South Africa
Team: Ernie Els & Retief Goosen
Location: Gotemba City, Japan
Course: Taiheiyo Club

2000
Winning Country: United States
Team: Tiger Woods & David Duval
Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Course: Buenos Aires CC

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