The World Cup of Golf is a men's

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

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 "rolling ...

, although not all of the first choice players choose to compete. The equivalent event for women was the

Women's World Cup of Golf The Women's World Cup of Golf was a professional golf tournament contested by teams of two female golfers representing their respective countries. The tournament was played in several incarnations, first in 1992 as the Sunrise Cup World Team Ch ...

, played from 2005 to 2008.

History

The tournament was founded by 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 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 The World Golf Championships (WGC) were a group of annual professional golf tournaments played from 1999 through 2023 created by the International Federation of PGA Tours as a means of gathering the best players in the world together more freque ...

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 Professional golf tours are the means by which otherwise unconnected professional golf tournaments are organized into a regular schedule. There are separate tours for men and women; most are based in a specific geographical region, although some to ...

. 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 Record ...

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

, 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 in the Chinese island province of

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

. 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 (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

, 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 an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...

and

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Since embarking on a professional career in ...

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 Davis Milton Love III (born April 13, 1964) is an American professional golfer who has won 21 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship: the 1997 PGA Championship. He won the Players Championship in 1992 and 2003. He was in th ...

*2 times: Kel Nagle and Peter Thomson,

and

Sam Snead Samuel Jackson Snead (; May 27, 1912 – May 23, 2002) was an American professional golfer who was one of the top players in the world for the better part of four decades (having won PGA of America and Senior PGA Tour events over six decades) an ...

As part of team

*6 times:

*4 times:

*2 times: Seve Ballesteros, José María Cañizares, Ernie Els, Dan Halldorson,

Bernhard Langer Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first number one ranked playe ...

, John Mahaffey,

Johnny Miller John Laurence Miller (born April 29, 1947) is an American former professional golfer. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 U.S. Open, and he ran ...

, Kel Nagle, 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 Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...

As individual (International Trophy)

*3 times:

*2 times: Roberto De Vicenzo,

Gary Player Gary James Player (born 1 November 1935) is a South African retired professional golfer who is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. During his career, Player won nine major championships on the regular tour and nine ...

, Ian Woosnam

References

External links

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