It’s been running for more than 20 years and only been held outside of the USA five times, but in December The Presidents Cup is coming back down-under to The Royal Melbourne Golf Club from 9 – 15 December.
New Zealand Golf Magazine has taken a look at the history of the event and gives you everything you need to know about what will take place next month.
The Event
The 2019 Presidents Cup is being held at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club Monday 9 December – Sunday 15 December.
The Presidents Cup began in 1994, with a competition held at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Prince William County, Virginia, USA.
This is the third time Royal Melbourne has hosted the event – they are the only city outside of the US to have hosted the Presidents Cup more than once. The previous two occasions were in 1998 and 2011.
The International Team has only won once, in 1998 while the US team has won 11 times and there has been one tie – in 2003.
The tournament is unique in that there is no prize money – players are not paid for their participation. Instead, equal contributions are made to charities nominated by players, captains and captain’s assistants from both teams.
Since the start of the event more than $49million has been raised for charity from event proceeds. Other donations are also made from proceeds and in 2011 New Zealand Earthquake disaster relief was one of those recipients. Since its start, the Presidents Cup has supported more than 450 charities in 16 countries around the world.
Kiwis who have featured in the International Team
Captains Assistant: Frank Nobilo 2009, 2011
Players: Frank Nobilo – 1994, 1996, 1998(CP); Greg Turner– 1998(CP); Michael Campbell – 2000, 2005; Danny Lee – 2015
2019 International Team
The top eight (8) international players (excluding those eligible for the European Ryder Cup team) from the Presidents Cup International Team Points List which shall be Official World Golf Ranking points accumulated in the time period from August 27, 2018 (Dell Technologies Championship) through August 18, 2019 (BMW Championship).
Four (4) Captain’s selections*.
Captain: Ernie Els
Captains Assistants: K.J. Choi, Geoff Ogilvy, Trevor Immelman, Mike Weir
Players:
- Marc Leishman
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Adam Scott
- Abraham Ancer
- Haotong Li
- C.T. Pan
- Cameron Smith
- Jason Day*
- Adam Hadwin*
- Joaquin Niemann*
- Sungjae Im*
2019 United States Team
The top eight (8) U.S. PGA TOUR members who have earned the most FedExCup points from September 11, 2017 (2017 BMW Championship) through 2019 BMW Championship, weighted as follows:
2017 BMW Championship through 2018 TOUR Championship: 1 FedExCup point = 1 point
First event of the 2018-2019 season through 2019 BMW Championship: 1 FedExCup point = 2 points
Four (4) Captain’s selections*.
Captain: Tiger Woods
Captains Assistants: Fred Couples, Zach Johnson, Steve Stricker
Players:
- Rickie Fowler
- Justin Thomas
- Dustin Johnson
- Patrick Cantlay
- Xander Schauffele
- Webb Simpson
- Matt Kuchar
- Bryson DeChambeau
- Gary Woodland*
- Tiger Woods*
- Tony Finau*
- Patrick Reed*
Presidents Cup Course
The course at Royal Melbourne will be what they refer to as ‘The Composite Course’. This course came about in 1959 when Royal Melbourne held the World Cup – or Canada Cup as it was known then. It comprises 12 holes from the West Course and 6 holes from the East Course. The combination of holes making up the course provides a mix of Scottish Links characteristics and rugged Sandbelt beauty.
