The World Cup of Golf is a men's golf tournament contested by teams of two representing their country. Only one team is allowed from each country. The players are selected on the basis of the

Official World Golf Ranking The Official World Golf Ranking is a system for rating the performance level of professional golfers. It was started in 1986. The rankings are based on a player's position in individual tournaments (i.e. not pairs or team events) over a "rolli ...

, although not all of the first choice players choose to compete. The equivalent event for women was the Women's World Cup of Golf, played from 2005 to 2008.

History

The tournament was founded by Canadian industrialist John Jay Hopkins, who hoped it would promote international goodwill through golf. It began in 1953 as the Canada Cup and changed its name to the World Cup in 1967. With

Fred Corcoran Fred J. Corcoran (April 4, 1905 – June 23, 1977) was a golf tournament director, publicist, agent and business manager. Known around the world as "Mr. Golf," he was one of the first non-players to be inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1 ...

as the Tournament Director and the International Golf Association behind it (1955–1977), the World Cup traveled the globe and grew to be one of golf's most prestigious tournaments throughout the 1960s and 1970s, but interest in the event faded to the point that the event was not held in 1981 or 1986. The tournament was incorporated into the World Golf Championships series from 2000 to 2006. In 2007 it ceased to be a World Golf Championships event, but continued to be sanctioned by the International Federation of PGA Tours. From 2007 through 2009 the tournament was held at the

Mission Hills Golf Club Mission Hills Shenzhen is a twelve course 18-hole course golf resort, located in the town of Guanlan () in Shenzhen, between the cities of Shenzhen and Dongguan. It is accredited as the world's largest golf facility by the Guinness World Records ...

in Shenzhen, China, receiving the name Mission Hills World Cup. There was no tournament in 2010, it having been announced that the event would change from annual to biennial, held in odd-numbered years, to accommodate the 2016 inclusion of golf at the Olympics. The 2011 tournament was at a new venue —

Mission Hills Haikou Mission Hills Haikou is a golf complex in Haikou, Hainan, China. Located around 10 km south of the center of Haikou, it comprises 10 golf courses, and at the north end, hotels including a Ritz Carlton and Renaissance, condominiums, a water p ...

in the Chinese island province of Hainan. The United States has a clear lead in wins, with 24 as of 2018.

Format

In 1953, the format was 36 holes of stroke play with the combined score of the two-man team determining the winner. From 1954 to 1999, the format was 72 holes of stroke play. Beginning in 2000, the format became alternating stroke play rounds of bestball ( fourball) and alternate shot ( foursomes). The 2013 tournament was primarily an individual event with a team component. The 60-player field was selected based on the

(OWGR) with up to two players per country allowed to qualify (four per country if they are within the top 15 of the OWGR). The format returned to 72 holes of stroke play, with the individuals competing for US$7 million of the $8 million total purse. OWGR points were awarded for the first time. The top two-ranked players from each country competed for the team portion, using combined stroke play scores. The individual portion was similar to what would be used at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, except that England, Scotland, and Wales had teams instead of a single Great Britain team as in the Olympics, while Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland again played as a single team. In 2016, the format reverted to that used from 2000 to 2011. From 1955 to 1999, there was also a separate award, the International Trophy, for the individual with the best 72-hole score.

Team winners

¹''This was a combined Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland team. They competed under the Republic of Ireland flag although both golfers were from Northern Ireland.''

Performance by nation

Individual winners

Multiple winners

Teammates

*4 times:

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

and Arnold Palmer,

Fred Couples Frederick Steven Couples (born October 3, 1959) is an American professional golfer who has competed on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. A former World No. 1, he has won 64 professional tournaments, most notably the Masters Tournament ...

and Davis Love III *2 times:

Kel Nagle Kelvin David George Nagle AM (21 December 1920 – 29 January 2015) was an Australian professional golfer best known for winning The Open Championship in 1960. He won at least one tournament each year from 1949 to 1975. Biography Nagle was bor ...

and Peter Thomson, Arnold Palmer and Sam Snead

As part of team

*6 times:

, Arnold Palmer *4 times:

, Davis Love III, Sam Snead *2 times:

Seve Ballesteros Severiano Ballesteros Sota (; 9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 inte ...

José María Cañizares José María Cañizares (born 18 February 1947) is a Spanish golfer. Cañizares was born in Madrid. He turned professional in 1967 and made the top hundred on the European Tour Order of Merit every year from its first season in 1972 through to 19 ...

, Ernie Els, Dan Halldorson, Bernhard Langer,

John Mahaffey John Drayton Mahaffey Jr. (born May 9, 1948) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments including 10 PGA Tour events. Mahaffey was born in Kerrville, Texas. He attended the University of Houston in Houston, Texas. He turn ...

, Johnny Miller,

, Manuel Piñero, Peter Thomson,

Lee Trevino Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and ...

, Tiger Woods

As individual (International Trophy)

*3 times:

*2 times: Roberto De Vicenzo, Johnny Miller, Gary Player, Ian Woosnam

References

External links

* {{Main world cups Team golf tournaments Recurring sporting events established in 1953 1953 establishments in Quebec International Sports Promotion Society World championships in golf