JACKSONVILLE (Fla.) — Just two days after the Ryder Cup 44th in Rome was completed, details of another international match-play tournament were revealed at a press conference held on Tuesday at Timuquana Country Club. This is the venue for this week’s PGA Tour Champions Constellation Furyk & Friends.
Ernie Els, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, called this new event “a different creature.”
It’s not the Ryder Cup, the 800-pound gorilla.
The World Champions Cup will combine international, U.S., and European teams from Dec. 7-10 in Bradenton. The Concession is a course designed by Jack Nicklaus in collaboration with Tony Jacklin. It was named after Nicklaus’ gesture towards Jacklin when Nicklaus conceded a putt to Jacklin at the 1969 Ryder Cup which resulted in a tie for the first time in competition.
The six-man team will be selected from the PGA Tour Champions which is also co-sponsoring the event.
Els, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame from South Africa, will captain Team International, while Darren Clarke, captain of the 2016 European Ryder Cup, will lead Team Europe.
Stricker and Singh added
Els, Retief Goosen and Vijay Singh are fellow World Golf Hall of Fame Members. Bernhard Langer is also a member of the European Hall of Fame.
Each team will select three more players, two from Peter Jacobsen’s chairman selections and one from the Charles Schwab Cup final points list. Jacobsen is a seven-time PGA Tour champion and TV golf analyst.
ESPN and ABC will provide TV coverage. The tournament will be managed by Chicago-based Intersport. They also manage the PGA Tour Rocket Mortgage Classic, in Detroit, as well as a dozen other televised sporting properties, such the Under Armour High School All-American Football game and the College Slam Dunk & Three-Point Contest.
Jason Langwell is the executive vice-president of Intersport, and executive director of the World Champions Cup. He noted that all nine captains and eight of the players so far selected are major champions. Five of them also belong to the Hall of Fame.
Langwell stated that “our ambitious vision is to become the fourth major global team event in golf. We will join the Presidents Cup Ryder Cup Solheim Cup in becoming a legacy golf event.” We’re thrilled to be the only event that will feature three teams competing simultaneously. You need the best to build a legacy like this. You need the best of the best. That means the best partners, the best competitors and the best host venue. “We’re thrilled to have that.”
Can three-team matchplay work?
Intersport’s founder and CEO Charlie Besser, along with Jacobsen, are the minds behind this World Champions Cup. They have been friends for a long time.
Could the World Champions Cup, which follows the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup, and Presidents Cup, (the U.S. against an international team mainly consisting of countries with a golf-loving population, like South Africa, Australia and Japan) show that match play between three teams is possible? Would this work for the Ryder Cup, Solheim Cup, or Presidents Cup, (the U.S. playing a country where golf has largely gained popularity, such as South Africa and Australia)?
Two captains of the World Champions Cup doubted this, given the huge popularity of the Ryder Cup as well as the history and increasing success of the Presidents Cup which was launched in 1994.
The World Champions Cup will also include the PGA Tour Champions, the last demographic group in professional golf that has not yet had its own match-play event.
Furyk stated that “the world of golf as it is now… The Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup… The World Champions Cup is unique and timing is perfect for guys over 50”, Furyk. “I do not see any need to change the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup in the future,” Furyk said. I want this event to make its own history.
Els, a player with a record of 20-12-2 in the Presidents Cup, believes that the World Champions Cup is the perfect way to play matches around the globe.
He said: “The Ryder Cup was a fantastic competition… What they did with this event was also unique.” This type of team competition for the three entities will stand alone. I think it’s the right way to do it.”
Nine holes, unique format
This format is also novel. Each doubles match has pairings of players from all three teams playing nine-hole matches. And each singles match also includes a player for each team who will also play nine holes. The team with the lowest score at each hole gets two points, and the second-lowest score receives one point.
All three teams get one point if they score the same on a particular hole. If one team wins a hole, and the other teams tie, then they each get one point.
The team that has the most points at the end of the match wins.
