A total of 30 European Tour Members will head to Melbourne from November 24-27 to contest the 58th edition of the World Cup of Golf at Kingston Heath Golf Club.
The 28 two-man teams who will represent their countries in the US$8 million tournament were finalised on Friday, with defending champions Australia represented by Major Champions Jason Day and Adam Scott; Danny Willett choosing Lee Westwood as his playing partner for England; Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell teaming up again for Ireland; Francesco Molinari selecting Matteo Manassero to complete the Italian team; Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello naming rising star John Rahm as his team-mate; and Welshman Jamie Donaldson picking former World Cup winner Bradley Dredge as his partner.
The field includes six Major Championships, 27 Olympians, 18 past participants of either The Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup, two sets of brothers, four players inside the top ten of the Official World Golf Ranking, four previous past World Cup winners, and players with a combined 317 victories from around the globe.
Defending champions Jason Day and Adam Scott will again represent the tournament’s host country as they try to win Australia’s sixth World Cup of Golf.
"I’m looking forward to me and Scottie defending,” said World Number One Day. “The format has changed, but I think with the current format that we have now I think it’s going to be a lot more exciting, and it should be – it should bring a lot of great teams into Australia to represent their countries.”
The 2016 tournament will return to a 72-hole, stroke play, two-man team event format. The first and third days of competition will be the foursomes (alternate shot) format and the second and final days are fourball (best ball) play.
With five European Tour titles to his name, including his maiden Major victory at the 2016 Masters in Augusta, England’s Danny Willett has gone with an experienced campaigner in Lee Westwood.
“Coming off the amazing experience that I had at the Olympics, it’s great to have the chance to put on the red, white and blue again and play for the United States in the World Cup of Golf. Jimmy is not only one of my favorite guys out here on tour, but he is clearly one of the most talented players on our tour as well," said Fowler.
Belgium’s pairing of Thomas Pieters and Nicolas Colsaerts are out to upset the field, as they challenge for a maiden World Cup of Golf title.
Colsaerts noted: “Thomas and I often play together when we are on the same travel schedule. We try to throw 9 holes together during the week at least. “
“We have a very good relationship. He has always said that he has looked up to me when I was the only Belgium player on Tour. And I like the way we can play together. There are things I can learn from him and things he can learn from me. This time with Thomas, if it clicks with us and we play well together, it could be an incredible week.”
Tickets and hospitality packages, are now available by visiting the World Cup of Golf website at
www.WorldCupofGolf.com
2016 World Cup of Golf Field:
AUS Jason Day and Adam Scott
AUT Bernd Wiesberger and Martin Wiegele
BEL Thomas Pieters and Nicolas Colsaerts
CAN David Hearn and Graham DeLaet
CHN Wu Ashun and Haotong Li
DEN Søren Kjeldsen and Thorbjørn Olesen
ENG Danny Willett and Lee Westwood
ESP Rafa Cabrera Bello and Jon Rahm
FIJ Vijay Singh and Krishna Singh
FRA Victor Dubuisson and Romain Langasque
GER Alex Cejka and Stephan Jaeger
IND SSP Chawrasia and S Chikarangappa
IRL Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell
ITA Francesco Molinari and Matteo Manassero
JPN Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Ishikawa
KOR Byeong Hun An and K.T. Kim
NED Joost Luiten and Darius van Driel
NZL Danny Lee and Ryan Fox
PHI Miguel Tabuena and Angelo Que
POR Ricardo Gouveia and José-Filipe Lima
RSA Jaco Van Zyl and George Coetzee
SCO Russell Knox and Duncan Stewart
SWE Alex Noren and David Lingmerth
THA Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat
TPE Cheng Tsung Pan and Chan Shih-chang
USA Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker
VEN Jhonattan Vegas and Julio Vegas
WAL Jamie Donaldson and Bradley Dredge
