Australia’s state of Victoria is to host the Presidents Cup in November 2019 and the next World Cup of Golf in November next year, it was announced in Incheon, South Korea, yesterday.
PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem told a news conference at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club that the venues and exact dates for two of golf’s biggest international team events had not yet been finalized, but would take place “on one of Melbourne Sandbelt’s premier courses.”
It is a welcome return to Australia for the International team, who recorded their sole Presidents Cup victory at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in 1998.
Photo: AFP
The news was cheered to the rafters by the large band of traveling Australian spectators called “The Fanatics,” who have lit up the first Presidents Cup held in Asia this week with their hilarious singing, colorful costumes and friendly banter.
They were invited to attend the announcement and gave Finchem a standing ovation when he declared that, in 2019, he too would become a “Fanatic” for the Presidents Cup.
The most likely venue for both events would appear to be Royal Melbourne, which would complete a hat-trick after the 1998 and 2011 Presidents Cups were held there, although Kingston Heath and Huntingdale could also be in the running.
Photo: AP
“We are committed to growing our enviable calendar of major events, and securing events like the Presidents Cup and the World Cup of Golf do just that,” Victoria Minister of Tourism John Eren said at the news conference.
Finchem also said that next year’s World Cup would revert to the old team format, where a pair of players from each nation compete in fourball (better ball) and foursomes (alternate shot) stroke play.
In 2013, the event was a 72-hole individual stroke play tournament with a team component held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Jason Day shot a final-round 70 to win the individual tournament, and he paired with Adam Scott to claim the team prize.
“I am very, very happy that we are returning to Melbourne, where I won the World Cup,” said Day, one of four Australians competing in the Presidents Cup in Incheon.
“It is exciting news, any time Australia gets big events,” said Scott, who is a veteran of seven Presidents Cups.
Branden Grace delivered two big shots in gathering darkness yesterday that kept the International team within one point of the US going into a final day at the Presidents Cup, which finally has some drama.
The US lead 9.5-8.5, with 12 singles matches remaining.
Grace and Louis Oosthuizen became the first International tandem to win all four team matches in this event, and every point mattered at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in.
Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson won their fourballs matches, while Bae Sang-moon and Hideki Matsuyama had the best rout of the week.
The US and International teams split both sessions of matches on a long day.
Additional reporting by AP
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