Sep 05, 2018: Six Asian nations – South Korea, China, Thailand, India, Chinese Taipei and Japan – are amongst the top 28 countries which have officially qualified for the 2018 ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf based on the Official World Golf Ranking for the week of September 3.
The rankings were finalized on September 4 following the conclusion of the PGA TOUR’s Dell Technologies Championship, which traditionally concludes on Monday.
The ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf, set to be contested November 21 to 25, 2018 at The Metropolitan Golf Club, will feature two-man teams from the top 28 nations based on the Official World Golf Ranking.
The 59th staging of the event will see the 56-player field vie for the largest prize-money purse in Australian golf, with $US7 million on offer.
The top-ranked player from each of the top 28 countries has until 5 p.m. USA eastern time on Thursday, 13 September to commit to the ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf. If the top-ranked player elects not to commit, the option will be passed to the next highest-ranked player from that country based on the Official World Golf Ranking.
Qualified Countries 1. United States 2. England 3. Spain 4. Italy 5. Ireland 6. Australia 7. Sweden 8. Japan 9. South Africa 10. Thailand 11. Denmark 12. Korea 13. China 14. Argentina 15. Canada 16. Scotland 17. Belgium 18. New Zealand 19. Venezuela 20. France 21. Austria 22. India 23. Netherlands 24. Chinese Taipei 25. Finland 26. Mexico 27. Germany 28. Chile
Alternates: 1. Zimbabwe 2. Paraguay 3. Malaysia 4. Wales 5. Greece
In this history of the World Cup of Golf, only Japan and Chinese Taipei have won the prestigious team event for Asia.
Torakichi Nakamura and Koichi Ono delivered a popular home win for Japan in 1957 while Toshimitsu Izawa and Shigeki Maruyama teamed up for a second Japanese triumph in Mexico in 2002, which was also last time an Asian country won the event. Hsieh Min-nan and Lu Liang-huan earned Chinese Taipei’s lone World Cup of Golf success in 1972 when it was staged at Royal Melbourne.
In 2016 when the World Cup of Golf was played at Kingston Heath in Melbourne, China’s Li Haotong and Wu Ashun contended for the title before settling for tied second place.
Alternate countries can potentially qualify if the top-ranked player from one of the qualified 28 countries does not commit, and the next highest-ranked player is lower in the rankings than a player from an alternate country.
For instance, if Canada’s Adam Hadwin does not commit to the event, the next eligible player from Canada is Graham DeLaet, who is ranked No. 260 in the standings. Since Scott Vincent from Zimbabwe is ranked higher than DeLaet, Vincent and Zimbabwe would then take over Canada’s position as one of the 28 teams qualified.
Once all 28 countries have their committed player, that player has until the following Thursday, 20 September at 5 p.m. USA eastern time to pick his partner. The full field of 56 players will be announced at that time.
The ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf is one of five tournaments that are co-sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours, joining the four events in the World Golf Championships series as tournaments which the Federation oversees. The International Federation of PGA Tours is an organization made up of all Tours from across the globe including the PGA TOUR, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, the PGA of Australia, the Asian Tour, South African Tour and more.
Asian Tour Release
