World Cup of Golf Preview

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

THEY used to call it the Canada Cup and Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus threatened to make it their own property or, more accurately, the property of the United States - it is now known as the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf and the latest version will be played at Kingston Heath Golf Club, Melbourne from November 23-27.

The format has changed umpteen times over the years but they have finally arrived at a 72-hole system that works like this: the field consists of 28 two-man teams, with the top-ranked player in each team able to choose their partner. It is a strokeplay tournament with the first and third days of competition played in foursomes (alternate shot) format and the second and final days being fourball (best ball) play.

As tends to happen with events such as this, many of the best golfers decide they have better things to do than represent their country while earning huge sums of money. Unsurprisingly, Danny Willett has chosen to fly home after a four-week stretch trying to win the Race to Dubai - to be fair to Willett, he has well-documented back problems. Justin Rose is also recovering from injury so he will not be playing either. Chris Wood is the next-highest-ranked Englishman and he jumped at the chance with open arms and opted to ask Andy Sullivan to partner him, rather than Lee Westwood, who was next in line.

Sullivan is a joy to behold and said that representing Europe in the Ryder Cup was the highlight of his career so you can be certain that he will feel 10-feet tall when he steps onto the first tee with Wood - and that is just as well because Wood is one of the tallest players on either the European or PGA Tours.

Potentially, the most exciting team are the pair who will be representing Belgium, Thomas Pieters and Nicolas Colsaerts. They are two of the biggest hitters on the planet and both men are capable of scoring really low. It goes without saying that the pair will expect to shoot the lights out during the two betterball rounds. The key is going to be how they cope during the foursomes rounds. Pieters is long and straight. Colsaerts is long and, erm, erratic. If his younger partner can convince him to leave the driver in the bag now and again then these two are going to take a lot of beating.

The team they, and everybody else, will have to beat are the Swedish pair of Alex Noren and David Lingmerth. With Henrik Stenson taking the week off, Lingmerth steps in and he isn't a bad substitute, having enjoyed another excellent year on the PGA Tour. Lingmerth is a hugely under-rated golfer. He hits the ball long and straight, is a good iron player and an aggressive putter. And in Noren he has the hottest player on the planet right now. If they click, there would be fireworks.

Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson have also decided not to play, so the USA will be represented by PGA champion Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler, a man who needs a big finish to what has been a bitterly disappointing season. Walker is on a high after rediscovering his best form. He gets on well with Fowler and just might be the right man to be by his side and help him find the golf that has made him one of the most exciting prospects in the game.

Australia are the defending champions. When the tournament was last held in 2013, they were represented by Adam Scott and Jason Day, who strolled to victory. Day rejected the invitation this year and will be replaced by Marc Leishman - and once again, that is not a bad second choice. Scott will, as always, play terrific golf for all four days. If he putts well then he could lay the foundations for a successful defence.

Ireland are represented by Shane Lowry and Graeme McDowell. Lowry is another golfer who started the season well, came close to winning the US Open and has struggled ever since. He does enjoy tough golf courses, however, and Kingston Heath is certainly one of those, so don't rule out these two.

And then there is Japan, represented by Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Ishikawa. It has to be said that Ishikawa is the man who was singled out for greatness by most pundits, who thought he was a good bet to become the first man from the land of the rising sun to land a major. As things have transpired, Matsuyama has been the man grabbing all the headlines - and playing the better golf. He recently won his first WGC event in China and, quite frankly, has no weaknesses. If Ishikawa can hang on to Matsuyama's coat-tails the World Cup will be going back to Japan. However, it is a big "if".

To Win:

Belgium. Two great players coming to the end of superb seasons

Each Way:

England. Not the strongest team they could have fielded, but still among the best

Each Way: 

Japan. Ishikawa is the key - if he plays well, Japan could win

Each Way:

Australia, On paper, a very strong team