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Golf World Cup Prediction
Author: Ian Hudson 21/11/2011
2011 November 24th - 27th European Tour & Asian Tour: OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup, Mission Hills GC Hainan Island, Hainan Island, China.
Ireland are the favourites at 4/1 to win the Golf World Cup which begins this Thursday in China. South Africa are second favourites as players from around the globe gather in Asia to try to win this prestigious trophy and the South Africans are my selection to do just that. England are third favourites at 7/1 to win the championship that they last won in 2004. Current holders Italy can be backed at 11/1 to win the event for the second time in the history of the competition.
The championship is a 72-hole stroke play team event with each team comprising of two players. The first and third days are four-ball and the second and final days are foursomes play. Twenty eight nations are taking part, made up of those who have qualified automatically and nations who have prevailed at qualifying events in Europe, Asia and South America.
The world rankings on July 18, 2011 determined the leading 18 nations that qualify automatically for the World Cup. The leading 18 available players and nations had to commit by the end of July to play the event. As hosts China qualify automatically. In total Europe is the best represented continent numerically with 15 European nations taking part.
Each country then selects any player from within the top 100 as at end of the end of August. It there was no other player in the top 100 the qualified player's partner is the next highest ranked available player. Only if there are no available players in the top 500 in the world can a country make an unconditional selection.
The host course is the Mission Hill's Blackstone resort course in Southern China. It has a par of 72 and yardage of 7808 yards, which is above average in length by today's standards. The course is tree-lined and many of the fairways are characterised by expansive lakes and wetlands. It is a stadium designed course with moundings and hills providing good vantage points for the spectators.
First played in 1953 the World Cup is sanctioned and organised by all the world's Tours. The 2011 World Cup will be the 55th staging of this event which has seen some of the best players in the world lift the prestigious trophy. In 2009 the Italian team of Eduardo and Francesco Molinari won the World Cup and Italy will be defending the trophy this week.
The United States have won the championship on 23 occasions and the next most successful nation is South Africa with five wins. England have won the trophy on two occasions and the most successful European team has been Spain with four wins. Fifteen nations have won the competition at least once. Europe has provided eight different winners and European teams have won sixteen events in total.
Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer and Fred Couples and Davis Love have won the trophy on four occasions as team mates. Nicklaus and Palmer have each been on the winning side six times. Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Nick Faldo and David Carter are the only English players to have won the tournament.
It's understandable to see why Ireland are favourites to win the event for the third time. They last won the trophy in 1997 and unlike many other nations they are fielding the strongest team available. Rory McIlroy made the team on the basis of his world ranking and Graeme McDowell was the next best Irish player in the rankings.
This pair have both won the US Open and nine other tournaments worldwide. McDowell has won five times in Europe while McIlroy has also won a regular US Tour event. They seem very compatible on and of the course and they are to potentially the most effective pairing and could be the main danger to South Africa.
England also look to have a strong team in the form of Ian Poulter and Justin Rose. Luke Donald and Lee Westwood qualified through the world rankings but declined the invitation to play and Paul Casey was also a potential choice. However, Poulter and Rose are both in the top 25 in the current world rankings and they should combine well on the course.
South Africa are also represented by 2 major champions, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel. I think thy will be highly motivated to do well as they have chosen not to compete in the South African Open in order to represent their country in China. Oosthuizen won the Open Championship in 2010 while Schwartzel won this year's Masters. They look a strong combination and have a good opportunity to lead South Africa to a fifth win in the competition.
Golf Betting Tip: South Africa at 7 with Betfair