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]
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 22–25 November |
| Location | South Oakleigh, Australia 37°55′S 145°05′E / 37.91°S 145.09°E |
| Course(s) | Metropolitan Golf Club |
| Format | 72 holes stroke play four-ball & alternate shot |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,321 yards (6,694 m) |
| Field | 28 two-man teams |
| Prize fund | $7.0 million |
| Winner's share | $2.24 million |
| Champion | |
 BelgiumThomas Pieters & Thomas Detry | |
| 265 (−23) | |
| Location map | |
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
editThe 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
editThe 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.
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.
Dustin Johnson- Brooks Koepka
- Justin Thomas
Justin Rose
Jon Rahm
Francesco Molinari- Bryson DeChambeau
Rory McIlroy- Rickie Fowler
- Jordan Spieth
Jason Day- Tommy Fleetwood
- Bubba Watson
- Patrick Reed
Alex Norén- Paul Casey
- Tony Finau
Hideki Matsuyama- Webb Simpson
- Xander Schauffele
- Henrik Stenson
- Patrick Cantlay
- Phil Mickelson
- Tiger Woods
- Rafa Cabrera-Bello
- Sergio García
Louis Oosthuizen- Branden Grace
Emiliano Grillo- Charl Schwartzel
Bernd Wiesberger
Shubhankar Sharma
Pan Cheng-tsung
Joaquín Niemann
Fabrizio Zanotti
Final leaderboard
editAustralia, 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
edit- ^ "World Cup of Golf – Format". PGA Tour. Archived from the original on 9 May 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2018.
- ^ The World Cup of Golf Fact Sheet PGA Tour World Cup of Golf 2018
- ^ "World Cup of Golf: Belgium's Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry win by three shots". BBC Sport. 25 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ "Thomas Pieters, Thomas Detry lead Belgium to first World Cup of Golf title". Golf Digest. 25 November 2018. Retrieved 27 November 2018.
- ^ Everill, Ben (22 November 2018). "Team Australia share lead at home". PGA Tour.
- ^ "Mastering the rain: Belgium, South Korea tied at World Cup of Golf". PGA Tour. 23 November 2018.
- ^ "Team Belgium takes big lead at World Cup of Golf". PGA Tour. 24 November 2018.
- ^ "Belgium hangs on for 3-stroke win at ISPS Handa Melbourne World Cup of Golf". PGA Tour. 25 November 2018.