How it works: World Champions Cup

2 Min Read

How It Works

Written by Staff

Editor's note: Team USA Captain Jim Furyk withdrew from competition due to injury, but will sustain his captaincy duties throughout the event. He is replaced by Vice Captain Billy Andrade.

The PGA TOUR Champions’ top players are set to christen a new international team competition this December: the World Champions Cup at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida. The team event will run Thursday through Sunday, Dec. 7-10, with three days of competition and a pro-am on Saturday, Dec. 9.

The World Champions Cup will feature three teams – Team International, Team Europe and Team USA – with mixed-team play on each day of competition. Playing Captains include South Africa’s Ernie Els for Team International, Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke leading Team Europe and Pennsylvania native Jim Furyk heading up Team USA, while seven-time PGA TOUR winner Peter Jacobsen will serve as Tournament Chairman.

Read on for everything you need to know about the inaugural World Champions Cup.

Team makeup

Each team will consist of six players including the Playing Captain and one non-playing Vice Captain. Two players on each team earned automatic qualification via the World Champions Cup Historical Rankings. Each team features two Chairman’s Selections, picked solely at the Chairman’s discretion. The sixth player on each team is determined by a play-in position given to the top player in the year-end Charles Schwab Cup standings. If any of the players that qualify through the play-in position have already been named to a team as an automatic qualifier or Chairman’s Selection, then the final position for each team becomes a Chairman’s Selection. Vice Captains will serve in a non-playing role and assist the Captains with setting the matchups for each of the World Champions Cup’s six sessions. Should any player sustain an injury and not be able to compete, the Vice Captain will be added to the playing roster for the remainder of the tournament.

Format

The World Champions Cup is a three-day team competition that will be contested across 24 nine-hole matches featuring team and singles play.

Competition on Thursday and Friday will feature Six Ball in the morning session and Scotch Sixsomes in the afternoon session; each match will feature two players from each team. The event concludes with 12 Singles matches on Sunday.

Scotch Sixsomes is a modified alternate-shot format used in team competition where each player hits a tee shot, and the team then selects one tee shot to play from. Alternate-shot play begins from there, with the player whose drive was not selected hitting the second shot on the hole.

World Champions Cup matches will feature no close-outs; all nine holes of competition will be played in each match.

A well placed drive to the left-center of this dogleg left par 4 opens up the green for a mid-iron approach. Shots to the front half of the green are best. Avoid the two bunkers that guard the putting surface.

Hole location will determine how this long par 3 should be played. If the pin is back left, add one club and be aggressive. If the pin is middle to right front, being short is okay. Large bunkers frame the elevated green.

This par 5 requires precise tee shot distance and control to avoid the bunkers left and water right. The landing area is the narrowest on the course. A solid drive will leave you with a mid- to short-iron approach to an elevated green protected by large bunkers.

The fairway slopes from right to left, which will help you work your drive off the fairway bunker straight ahead. The second shot is over a wetland area.

This short par 4 requires a precise driver or fairway metal tee shot to the left center of the fairway. The small green is fronted by Tortoise Creek and guarded by a large bunker on the left.

This par 4 features a large landing area, but the best line off the tee is right of center. A mid- to long-iron second shot follows. Four well-placed bunkers guard the undulating green.

The real trouble on this par 3 is clearly short and right, but what looks like part of the green to the left is not; don’t be deceived. Chipping from that shaved area on the left is not difficult, but you definitely won’t be putting either.

A solid tee shot just left of the oak tree on the right sets up the critical second shot on this par 5. Lay up just left of the cross bunkers on the right or carry them to leave a wedge to one of the course’s most undulating greens.

This short par 4 is one that many players can theoretically reach with their drivers, but it also poses the ultimate risk-reward decision off the tee. To make your choice even tougher, deep bunkers flank the undulating green.

All great courses finish strongly, and The Concession is no exception. The ideal drive is left center of the fairway; the water comes up quickly on the right. The demanding second shot must avoid bunkers and more water on the right. If you must, bail out to the left.

The medium-length par 3 is a shot-maker’s dream. Water runs from tee to green and bunkers guard both the left front and the entire right side of the putting surface.

Playing safely to the left of the large oak trees leaves you facing a long second shot to the green. Driving over the oaks to the middle of the fairway will reward you with a much shorter second shot. A deep bunker protects the left side of the elevated green.

On this brute of a par 5, with water left and a huge bunker right, most players need three shots to get home. After a solid drive just left of the bunker, lay up a mid-iron to the left side. The green occupies the property’s highest elevation, so add one club on the uphill approach.

Your tee shot target is just left of the fairway bunker on this imposing par 4. If playing downwind, a fairway metal might be your best bet. A mid- to short-iron approach to a green guarded on the left by a bunker and water remains. Bail out short and right if you must.

Avoid a blind second shot by playing your tee shot to the right center of the fairway. A solid drive leaves you with a mid- to short-iron approach. This par 4 offers a great chance to begin the back nine with a birdie.

The wind and pin location make this par 3 a great challenge. If the pin is back, play to the middle of the green, but you can be more aggressive with a front or middle pin location. Deep bunkers flank both sides and the back of this green.

This par 4 is one of Concession’s most demanding holes. Your drive should be just left of the fairway bunkers, but don’t flirt with the water. Missing the green to the right is certainly better than missing to the left.

Stay focused on this monster par 5 to finish your round off right. A strong drive down the right center of the fairway means you can try to get home in two. If you lay-up, don’t go too far because the approach angle actually gets tougher the closer you get to the green.

Scoring

A total of three points will be awarded on each hole of every nine-hole match during Thursday and Friday’s team competition as well as for Sunday’s morning and afternoon Singles matches.
The team with the lowest score on each hole will receive two points. The team with the second-lowest score on a hole will receive one point. The team with the highest score will receive no points.
Whenever teams finish with the same score on a hole, those teams will be awarded the same number of points.
In the event that two teams finish with the lowest score on a hole, each team will receive one and a half points. The third team, finishing with the highest score, will receive no points.
In the event that one team finishes with the lowest score on a hole and the other two finish with the same (higher) score, the team with the lowest score will receive two points, with the other two teams receiving a half point.
In the event that all three teams finish with the same score on a hole, each team will receive one point.
In the event that two or three teams are tied at the conclusion of play, the captains of those teams tied will compete in a sudden-death playoff to determine the inaugural winner.
For Singles, one player from each team will play in both the morning and afternoon sessions, and each match will use the same scoring format as above.

Team rosters

Team International

Ernie Els (Playing Captain)
Vijay Singh (Automatic Qualifier)
Retief Goosen (Automatic Qualifier)
Steven Alker (Chairman’s Selection)
Stephen Ames (Chairman’s Selection)
K.J. Choi (Chairman’s Selection)
Stuart Appleby (Vice Captain)

Team Europe

Darren Clarke (Playing Captain)
Bernhard Langer (Automatic Qualifier)
Colin Montgomerie (Automatic Qualifier)
Miguel Angel Jiménez (Chairman’s Selection)
Robert Karlsson (Chairman’s Selection)
Alex Čejka (Chairman’s Selection)
Jesper Parnevik (Vice Captain)

Team USA

Jim Furyk (Captain)
Steve Stricker (Automatic Qualifier)
David Toms (Automatic Qualifier)
Jerry Kelly (Chairman’s Selection)
Justin Leonard (Chairman’s Selection)
Brett Quigley (Chairman’s Selection)
Billy Andrade (Playing Vice Captain)

Purse

The World Champions Cup features a $1.35 million purse, with $100,000 to each player on the winning team, $75,000 to each player on the second-place team and $50,000 to each player on the third-place team.