Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie, David Toms named automatic qualifiers for inaugural World Champions Cup

BRADENTON, Florida – Team rosters for the inaugural World Champions Cup continue to take shape, as the tournament announced Tuesday that Retief Goosen, Colin Montgomerie and David Toms will be automatic qualifiers representing Team International, Team Europe and Team USA, respectively, when the event tees off in December.

Vijay Singh, Bernhard Langer and Steve Stricker were previously announced as automatic qualifiers, joining playing captains Ernie Els, Darren Clarke and Jim Furyk in the field for the debut event. With 65 days until the tournament tees off for the first time, half of each team’s roster has been set.

Each of the three teams competing in the World Champions Cup will consist of six players, including a playing captain, and all will be active PGA TOUR Champions members. Automatic qualifiers are determined by the top point-earners in the World Champions Cup Historical Rankings. The remaining three players for each team will consist of two Chairman’s Selections and a play-in position based on the year-end Charles Schwab Cup standings.

The World Champions Cup is a first-of-its-kind international team golf competition set to make its debut Dec. 7-10, 2023, at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida.

"Our team rosters are coming together nicely as we inch closer to the first tee going in the ground for our inaugural event,” said Jason Langwell, executive director of the World Champions Cup. “With half of our 18-player field set, we’ve got a group that features World Golf Hall of Famers, major championship winners and guys who have provided some of the biggest highlights from Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups over the last 20-plus years. Fans are going to be in for a major treat watching many of the game’s best players and legends of golf battle each other for the inaugural World Champions Cup title this December.”

World Golf Hall of Famer Els, 2011 Open champion Clarke and 2003 U.S. Open champion Furyk will each serve as playing captains in the first playing of the World Champions Cup. Seven-time PGA TOUR winner and popular golf commentator Peter Jacobsen will serve as chairman of the inaugural event.

Inspired by the passion and tradition of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, the World Champions Cup is officially sanctioned by PGA TOUR Champions and is set to air on ABC and ESPN. The World Champions Cup will feature Team International, Team Europe and Team USA squaring off over three days of competition that will renew some of the game’s most storied rivalries as the teams battle for international pride and global bragging rights.

Goosen is a World Golf Hall of Famer who won the U.S. Open in 2001 and 2004 while also posting 14 other top-10 finishes in major championships. The South Africa native represented the International Team in six consecutive Presidents Cups from 2000-2011. A seven-time PGA TOUR winner, including the 2004 TOUR Championship, he also owns 12 DP World Tour wins and two PGA TOUR Champions victories.

“I like the way our roster is shaping up already with Retief and Vijay as my teammates,” Els said. “I’ve been great friends with Retief since we were kids in South Africa, and I'm looking forward to what he’ll bring to the team room as we try to bring home the first World Champions Cup trophy for the International Team.”

Montgomerie is considered one of the greatest Ryder Cup players of all time, having represented Team Europe eight times and never having lost a singles match. His halve on the final hole in 1997 helped secure the Ryder Cup for Europe at Valderrama, and he sank the winning putt in 2004 at Oakland Hills. Inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2013, the Scotsman won 31 times on the DP World Tour and eight times secured the tour's Order of Merit. Montgomerie is a five-time major championship runner-up who counts three senior major titles among his seven PGA TOUR Champions victories.

“I don’t think you can put a value on just how competitive Colin is, especially when it comes to team events,” Clarke said. “He always wants to win, but there’s definitely a little more fire in him when he puts on the uniform to represent Europe, and I’m eager to see that competitive spirit return in the World Champions Cup this December.”

Toms is a 13-time winner on the PGA TOUR, including the 2001 PGA Championship. He counts the 2018 U.S. Senior Open among his four PGA TOUR Champions victories. The Louisiana native represented the United States in three Ryder Cups and played on three winning Presidents Cup teams in four appearances between 2003 and 2011.

“David is a terrific addition to Team USA, and I’m looking forward to having him and Steve as part of my roster come December,” Furyk said. “David’s experience playing in seven Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups will be invaluable as we go to battle with some incredible players on the International and European teams, and he has been playing some terrific golf on the Champions Tour this season.”

The World Champions Cup is an annual three-team, three-day competition that will be contested across nine-hole matches featuring team formats and singles play, with points being earned for each hole won in each of the event’s 24 matches. The team with the highest point total across all matches will be crowned the champion.

The Concession Golf Club was named the Best New Private Course in America by Golf Digest in 2006. The seed of what would become The Concession Golf Club was planted in 1969, with Jack Nicklaus’ famous gesture of conceding the final putt in the Ryder Cup to Europe's Tony Jacklin, clinching the first tie in the competition’s history. Decades later, the two golf legends paired up to design and create The Concession Golf Club — a championship, privately-owned golf facility with no houses lining the course. The course has hosted the PGA TOUR’s 2021 World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession, the 2015 Men’s and Women’s NCAA Division I championships and the biennial Concession Cup.

ABC and ESPN will serve as the exclusive television homes of the World Champions Cup. Coverage will air Thursday, Dec. 7, and Friday, Dec. 8, as well as Sunday, Dec. 10. The event will also feature a unique pro-am on Saturday, Dec. 9.