Rewind
You have to go back to 2013 for the last time the World Cup of Golf was contested, at Royal Melbourne. Three years ago, Jason Day delighted the locals by lifting the individual trophy, and it was double glory for Australia as he and Adam Scott also claimed the team prize on home soil. A week after losing eight members of his family in Typhoon Haiyan, Day showed commendable mental strength to see off Denmark’s Thomas Bjørn by two strokes. Day’s closing round of 70 for a ten under par aggregate total, allied to Scott’s seven under par score, meant Australia were crowned World Cup of Golf winners for the fifth time. Bjørn closed with a round of 71 to finish on eight under par and secure his second runner-up finish in the World Cup, with Denmark having also finished joint second behind the South African team of Ernie Els and Retief Goosen in 2001.
Bite-sized history
This will be the 58th staging of the World Cup of Golf, a tournament which was first held in 1953 – albeit under a different name. The tournament made its debut as the Canada Cup and International Golf Championship, a relatively low-key event held in Montreal, Canada, with just seven nations taking part. The tournament was the brainchild of American John Jay Hopkins, whose name is still on the trophy presented to the winning team. The event has since grown into the greatest global team event in golf, with teams from 28 countries competing for the title. The 2016 edition will return to a 72-hole, stroke play, two-man team event format. The first and third days of competition will be played in the foursomes (alternate shot) format, and the second and final days will be fourballs (best ball).
The Field
A total of 36 European Tour Members will descend on Melbourne to contest the 2016 edition of the World Cup of Golf. Between them, the 28 two-man teams have 273 victories across the globe and 67 combined World Cup of Golf appearances. There are 16 players inside the top 50 of the World Ranking, more than half the field are ranked inside the top 100, and 18 players have competed in either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. Adam Scott, one of three Major Champions in the field, returns to defend Australia’s crown alongside team-mate Marc Leishman. The United States, vying to secure a 25th victory, will be represented by Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker, whilst two of their opponents from this year’s Ryder Cup, Andy Sullivan and Chris Wood, make up the England team. Alex Noren, currently one of the world’s hottest players, will bid to win a third World Cup title for Sweden in the company of David Lingmerth, whilst the power-packed pairing of Thomas Pieters and Nicolas Colsaerts will attempt to claim a first victory for Belgium.
The Course
Located in the famed sandbelt region in the southeast suburbs of Melbourne, Kingston Heath Golf Club is widely considered one of Australia’s, and indeed the world’s, foremost courses. Originally formed as the Elsternwick Golf Club in 1909 and based in the present day Elsternwick Park, it was relocated to Heatherton in 1925 and renamed Kingston Heath. The course opened as a par 82 and was, at the time, the longest course in Australia. The original design was attributed to Dan Soutar before advice was sought from Alister MacKenzie, who provided a suitable bunkering strategy during his visit to Australia in 1926. The club has staged the Australian Open on seven occasions and hosted the Australian Masters tournament in 2009, when Tiger Woods took the title by two shots from home favourite Greg Chalmers. Kingston Heath will be hosting the World Cup for the first time, becoming only the second course in Australia after Royal Melbourne to stage the event.
DidYou Know?
• Flory van Donck of Belgium is the oldest player to participate in the World Cup. He was 67 when making the last of his 19 appearances in 1979. The youngest competitor was Marko Vovk, who was only 15 when he played for Yugoslavia in 1979.
• Defending champions Australia will aim to become the first nation to successfully defend the World Cup since the USA achieved the feat in 1999 and 2000.
• The USA hold the record for the most number of wins with 24. Australia and South Africa are next with five. Then come Spain with four, followed by Canada with three. Next with two come England, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Sweden and Wales. Four nations have triumphed once. They are: Argentina, Chinese Taipei, Italy and Scotland.
• Arnold Palmer (1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1967), along with Jack Nicklaus (1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971 and 1973) jointly hold the record for most victories by a player with six. The duo also established the record for most victories by the same partnership in 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1967. That was matched by Fred Couples and Davis Love III in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995.
