SYDNEY: Australia will host golf’s revamped $8m World Cup at Royal Melbourne in November, tournament organisers and state government officials said yesterday.
A joint announcement by the International Federation of PGA Tours, the Australian state of Victoria and the International Golf Association said the World Cup will be staged on November 21-24.
It will be the fourth time the World Cup has been held in Australia with the last event won by the United States at Royal Melbourne in 1988, as part of Australia’s bicentennial celebrations.
Royal Melbourne, which also hosted The Presidents Cup 2011, will stage back-to-back events in November.
The World Cup will be preceded by the Australian Masters, which boasts recently-crowned Augusta Masters winner Adam Scott as the defending champion and will be followed by the Australian Open at Royal Sydney.
“This is a great day for golf and a great day for Australia,” PGA of Australia chief executive Brian Thorburn said.
“The addition of the World Cup will complement an already strong swing of tournaments including the Australian PGA, Open and Masters and will significantly boost the international player prospects for these events.”
The World Cup will have a total purse of $8m, with individual stroke-play competition worth $7m, and a team component (adding the total scores of two-man teams) worth $1m.
The World Cup qualification system is similar to the one that will be used at the Olympic Games -- golf returns to the programme in Rio in 2016. REUTERS
