2018 World Cup of Golf

The 2018 World Cup of Golf (known as the 2018 ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf for sponsorship reasons) was a golf tournament that was played from 22 to 25 November at Metropolitan Golf Club in South Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. It was the 59th World Cup. The format is 72-hole stroke play; the first and third days were four-ball (best ball), and the second and fourth days were foursomes (alternate shot) play.[1][2]

2018 World Cup of Golf
Tournament information
Dates22–25 November
LocationSouth Oakleigh, Australia
37°55′S 145°05′E / 37.91°S 145.09°E / -37.91; 145.09
Course(s)Metropolitan Golf Club
Format72 holes stroke play
four-ball & alternate shot
Statistics
Par72
Length7,321 yards (6,694 m)
Field28 two-man teams
Prize fund$7.0 million
Winner's share$2.24 million
Champion
 Belgium
Thomas Pieters & Thomas Detry
265 (−23)
Location map
Metropolitan GC is located in Australia
Metropolitan GC
Metropolitan GC
Location in Australia
Metropolitan GC is located in Victoria
Metropolitan GC
Metropolitan GC
Location in Victoria
Metropolitan GC is located in Melbourne
Metropolitan GC
Metropolitan GC
Location in Melbourne
← 2016
TBD →

The Belgian pair of Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry won with a score of 265, 23-under-par. Australia and Mexico tied for second place, three strokes behind. It was Belgium's first victory in the World Cup.[3][4]

Qualification

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The 28 nations to compete were determined based on the top-ranked player from each country from the Official World Golf Ranking as of 3 September 2018.

These 28 seeded players selected a partner from the same country ranked in the top 500 of the OWGR. If there were less than five possible choices in the top 500, the seeded player could choose any of the next five players from that country in the rankings, even if they were ranked outside the top 500. The deadline for teams to be finalized was 20 September.

Teams

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The table below lists the teams in order of qualification (i.e. ranking of seeded player on 3 September 2018) together with their World Rankings at the time of the tournament.

Country Seeded player Unseeded player
  Australia Marc Leishman (21) Cameron Smith (33)
  England Tyrrell Hatton (25) Ian Poulter (39)
  United States Kyle Stanley (30) Matt Kuchar (29)
  Thailand Kiradech Aphibarnrat (36) Prom Meesawat (488)
  Denmark Thorbjørn Olesen (42) Søren Kjeldsen (231)
  Japan Satoshi Kodaira (54) Hideto Tanihara (165)
  South Korea An Byeong-hun (50) Kim Si-woo (57)
  China Li Haotong (40) Wu Ashun (177)
  Canada Adam Hadwin (65) Nick Taylor (313)
  Scotland Russell Knox (67) Martin Laird (186)
  Belgium Thomas Pieters (70) Thomas Detry (140)
  South Africa Dylan Frittelli (75) Erik van Rooyen (135)
  Sweden Alexander Björk (63) Joakim Lagergren (188)
  New Zealand Ryan Fox (89) Mark Brown (496)
  Venezuela Jhonattan Vegas (107) Joseph Naffah (2012)
  Spain Adrián Otaegui (69) Jorge Campillo (99)
  Ireland Shane Lowry (74) Paul Dunne (106)
  France Alexander Lévy (95) Mike Lorenzo-Vera (115)
  Netherlands Joost Luiten (110) Daan Huizing (320)
  India Anirban Lahiri (139) Gaganjeet Bhullar (137)
  Finland Mikko Korhonen (108) Mikko Ilonen (310)
  Mexico Abraham Ancer (60) Roberto Díaz (742)
  Germany Martin Kaymer (159) Maximilian Kieffer (291)
  Italy Andrea Pavan (103) Renato Paratore (227)
  Zimbabwe Scott Vincent (148) Benjamin Follett-Smith (919)
  Malaysia Gavin Green (198) Ben Leong (397)
  Wales Stuart Manley (242) Bradley Dredge (466)
  Greece Peter Karmis (248) Alexander Tranacher (2012)

The following players were eligible to be a seeded player but did not commit. The order is based on the World Rankings on 3 September 2018. Five countries with an eligible player did not compete: Argentina, Austria, Chinese Taipei, Chile and Paraguay (withdrew as alternate). They were replaced by Zimbabwe, Malaysia, Wales and Greece.

Final leaderboard

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Australia, England and South Korea tied for the lead after the first day fourball rounds with 10-under-par rounds of 62.[5] Conditions were difficult for the second day foursomes with rain and gusty winds. Belgium and South Korea led after day 2 on 10-under-par. Mexico had the best round of the day, 70, to lift themselves into 7th place while hosts Australia had a disappointing round of 76 and dropped into a tie for 8th place.[6] On the third day Belgium had their second fourball round of 63 and took a 5-stroke lead, ahead of Italy, Mexico and South Korea.[7] On the final day Australia set the clubhouse lead on 268 after a final round 65. Belgium came to the last with a two-stroke lead. Thomas Pieters put their second shot to four feet, which Thomas Detry holed to give Belgium a three-stroke victory with a final round of 68. Mexico tied with Australia for second place.[8]

Place Country Score To par Money (US$)
1   Belgium 63-71-63-68=265 −23 2,240,000
T2   Australia 62-76-65-65=268 −20 957,500
  Mexico 67-70-65-66=268
T4   Canada 68-73-64-66=271 −17 362,000
  Denmark 63-77-66-65=271
T6   Italy 65-71-66-70=272 −16 252,500
  South Korea 62-72-68-70=272
8   England 62-74-67-70=273 −15 185,000
9   Sweden 65-74-64-71=274 −14 140,000
T10   France 66-73-68-69=276 −12 102,333
  India 64-72-70-70=276
  Ireland 64-76-65-71=276
13   China 66-76-68-67=277 −11 82,000
T14   Scotland 67-71-67-73=278 −10 74,000
  Thailand 67-78-67-66=278
T16   United States 66-79-66-68=279 −9 69,000
  Wales 70-73-66-70=279
T18   Finland 66-75-68-71=280 −8 64,000
  New Zealand 65-76-69-70=280
  South Africa 66-76-66-72=280
21   Spain 68-74-64-75=281 −7 60,000
22   Malaysia 63-73-72-74=282 −6 58,000
23   Japan 66-79-70-72=287 −1 56,000
T24   Netherlands 69-82-68-70=289 +1 53,000
  Venezuela 65-82-67-75=289
26   Germany 68-81-68-73=290 +2 50,000
27   Zimbabwe 72-84-66-73=295 +7 48,000
28   Greece 66-87-68-86=307 +19 46,000

Rounds 1 and 3 were four-ball (best ball), rounds 2 and 4 were foursomes (alternate shot). Prize money is for the pair.

Notes and references

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  1. ^ "World Cup of Golf – Format". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
  2. ^ The World Cup of Golf Fact Sheet PGA Tour World Cup of Golf 2018
  3. ^ "World Cup of Golf: Belgium's Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry win by three shots". BBC Sport. 25 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  4. ^ "Thomas Pieters, Thomas Detry lead Belgium to first World Cup of Golf title". Golf Digest. 25 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
  5. ^ Everill, Ben (22 November 2018). "Team Australia share lead at home". PGA Tour.
  6. ^ "Mastering the rain: Belgium, South Korea tied at World Cup of Golf". PGA Tour. 23 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Team Belgium takes big lead at World Cup of Golf". PGA Tour. 24 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Belgium hangs on for 3-stroke win at ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf". PGA Tour. 25 November 2018.
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