EUROPEAN TOUR PRESS RELEASE
TOP QUALITY FIELD CONFIRMED FOR
WORLD CUP AT MISSION HILLS,
CHINA FROM NOVEMBER 22-25
Players from 28 nations, who have shared in numerous triumphs around the world over the past season, will tee up at the 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup at Mission Hills Golf Club, China, from November 22-25.
A top quality field has now been confirmed for the event following the completion of the two qualifying competitions in Asia and Latin America last weekend, which saw ten countries join the 18 exempt nations already announced.
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng led the way with victory in the Asian Qualifier – the Fortis International Challenge – in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with The Netherlands, New Zealand, Korea and the Philippines also emerging successfully from the qualifying examination.
Meanwhile Puerto Rico won the Omega Mission Hills World Cup Aruba Qualifier in the Dutch Caribbean to secure their place in the field along with Ireland, Colombia, Italy and Paraguay.
Major Champions and a host of global winners will tee up at Mission Hills, with Germany defending the title they won in Barbados last December. This year, they will be represented by emerging star Martin Kaymer and established winner, Alex Cejka.
Two-time US Open Champion Retief Goosen of South Africa, José Maria Olazábal of Spain who designed the course at Mission Hills for the 2007 World Cup, and Mike Weir of Canada – both Masters winners - will be partnered by Trevor Immelman, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Wes Heffernan respectively.
Goosen and Immelman have both tasted World Cup success in the past. The former was part of South Africa’s victorious team in Japan in 2001 while the latter savoured success at Kiawah Island four years ago.
Goosen and Zhang Lian-wei of host country China are both making a sentimental return to Mission Hills, 12 years after representing their respective countries in the 1995 World Cup. South Africa and China finished eighth and 27th respectively that year and will be determined to secure a higher placing this time around.
The host nation, China, will be represented at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup by the older generation in Zhang – the first Chinese golfer to win on The European Tour – and the younger generation in Liang Wen-chong, the most recent player from China to win on The European Tour earlier this season in Singapore.
CONFIRMED FIELD
Argentina: Andres Romero and Ricardo Gonzalez
Australia: Nick O’Hern and Nathan Green
Austria: Markus Brier and Claude Grenier
Canada: Mike Weir and Wes Heffernan
China: Liang Wen-chong and Zhang Lian-wei
Colombia: Gustavo Mendoza and Jorge Benedetti
Denmark: Anders Hansen and Søren Hansen
England: Justin Rose and Ian Poulter
France: Raphaël Jacquelin and Gregory Havret
Finland: Mikko Ilonen and Pasi Purhonen
Germany: Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka
India: Jyoti Randhawa and Gaurev Ghei
Ireland: Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin
Italy: Edoardo Molinari and Francesco Molinari
Japan: Hideto Tanihara and Tetsuji Hiratsuka
Korea: Lee Seung-ho and Lee Sung
New Zealand: Richard Lee and Stephen Scahill
Paraguay: Carlos Franco and Fabrizio Zanotti
Philippines: Tony Lascuna and Gerald Rosales
Puerto Rico: Wilfredo Morales and Miguel Suárez
Scotland: Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren
South Africa: Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman
Spain: José Maria Olazábal and Miguel Angel Jiménez
Sweden: Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson
Thailand: Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng
The Netherlands: Robert-Jan Derksen and Maarten Lafeber
United States: Arron Oberholser and Sean O’Hair
Wales: Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge
The 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup will launch a new and exciting era in the history of the event first played in 1953 as the Canada Cup. The event is set to continue through 2018, and most probably beyond, at Mission Hills following the signing of an agreement which brought the prestige watch manufacturer Omega together with the Club which introduced the game of golf to China by first hosting the World Cup in 1995.
John Jay Hopkins, the noted Canadian industrialist, brought to reality a dream that golf could promote goodwill between nations with the inaugural World Cup played in Montreal in 1953 then called the Canada Cup and re-titled The World Cup in 1967.
The International Federation of PGA Tours will, as custodians, oversee the 53rd edition of the event as it unfolds less than one year before the staging in Beijing of the Olympic Games at which Omega has a unique role as Official Timekeeper.
ABOUT OMEGA
The prestige watch manufacturer OMEGA was founded in Switzerland in 1848 and since then has continually set the pace in the many fields of watchmaking, from sports timekeeping and design awards to watches for professional use in space or underwater. OMEGA is closely associated with a world of achievements including the conquest of space, timekeeping at 22 Olympic Games and numerous precision records as well as the launch in 1999 of the revolutionary Co-Axial calibre, one of the 20th century’s major innovations in mechanical watchmaking designed with the English master watchmaker George Daniels. OMEGA will be Official Timekeeper for the Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.
ABOUT MISSION HILLS GOLF CLUB, CHINA
Founded in 1994, Mission Hills Golf Club, China, seeks to create ‘International Goodwill through Golf.’ The Club occupies over 15 square kilometres of land and boasts 12 signature courses designed by golf legends from five different continents.
The Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye, José Maria Olazábal, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Zhang Lian-Wei, David Leadbetter, Greg Norman, Jumbo Ozaki, Vijay Singh, Annika Sorenstam and David Duval. Each course is reflective of the designers’ style, offering unique risk / reward challenges to the player. As a complete golf destination, the Club houses a five star hotel and world class spa and was voted Best Golf Resort in Asia by readers of Asian Golf Monthly in 2006 and Golf Resort of the Year in the Rest of the World category in 2005 by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO). In May 2004, the Club was accredited by the Guinness World RecordsTM as the World’s Largest Golf Facility, making a name for itself in the world of premier golf through its exceptional ability to deliver an unsurpassed level of service excellence. Mission Hills is the proud venue of the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup for the next consecutive twelve years (2007 – 2018).
ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL GOLF ASSOCIATION
Established by Canadian industrialist John Jay Hopkins in 1953, the International Golf Association has pursued the mission of "International Goodwill through Golf" for over fifty years. As the owner of the World Cup name, IGA has sanctioned the world's most prestigious international team golf competition throughout six decades. IGA is governed by its Board of Directors, comprised by Chairman Jonathan S. Linen (Advisor to the Chairman, American Express), Deane R. Beman (Former PGA TOUR Commissioner), J. B. McCoy (Retired Chairman, Bank One Corporation) and Bill Souders (Former Executive Vice-President and
WORLD CUP AT MISSION HILLS,
CHINA FROM NOVEMBER 22-25
Players from 28 nations, who have shared in numerous triumphs around the world over the past season, will tee up at the 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup at Mission Hills Golf Club, China, from November 22-25.
A top quality field has now been confirmed for the event following the completion of the two qualifying competitions in Asia and Latin America last weekend, which saw ten countries join the 18 exempt nations already announced.
Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng led the way with victory in the Asian Qualifier – the Fortis International Challenge – in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with The Netherlands, New Zealand, Korea and the Philippines also emerging successfully from the qualifying examination.
Meanwhile Puerto Rico won the Omega Mission Hills World Cup Aruba Qualifier in the Dutch Caribbean to secure their place in the field along with Ireland, Colombia, Italy and Paraguay.
Major Champions and a host of global winners will tee up at Mission Hills, with Germany defending the title they won in Barbados last December. This year, they will be represented by emerging star Martin Kaymer and established winner, Alex Cejka.
Two-time US Open Champion Retief Goosen of South Africa, José Maria Olazábal of Spain who designed the course at Mission Hills for the 2007 World Cup, and Mike Weir of Canada – both Masters winners - will be partnered by Trevor Immelman, Miguel Angel Jiménez and Wes Heffernan respectively.
Goosen and Immelman have both tasted World Cup success in the past. The former was part of South Africa’s victorious team in Japan in 2001 while the latter savoured success at Kiawah Island four years ago.
Goosen and Zhang Lian-wei of host country China are both making a sentimental return to Mission Hills, 12 years after representing their respective countries in the 1995 World Cup. South Africa and China finished eighth and 27th respectively that year and will be determined to secure a higher placing this time around.
The host nation, China, will be represented at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup by the older generation in Zhang – the first Chinese golfer to win on The European Tour – and the younger generation in Liang Wen-chong, the most recent player from China to win on The European Tour earlier this season in Singapore.
CONFIRMED FIELD
Argentina: Andres Romero and Ricardo Gonzalez
Australia: Nick O’Hern and Nathan Green
Austria: Markus Brier and Claude Grenier
Canada: Mike Weir and Wes Heffernan
China: Liang Wen-chong and Zhang Lian-wei
Colombia: Gustavo Mendoza and Jorge Benedetti
Denmark: Anders Hansen and Søren Hansen
England: Justin Rose and Ian Poulter
France: Raphaël Jacquelin and Gregory Havret
Finland: Mikko Ilonen and Pasi Purhonen
Germany: Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka
India: Jyoti Randhawa and Gaurev Ghei
Ireland: Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin
Italy: Edoardo Molinari and Francesco Molinari
Japan: Hideto Tanihara and Tetsuji Hiratsuka
Korea: Lee Seung-ho and Lee Sung
New Zealand: Richard Lee and Stephen Scahill
Paraguay: Carlos Franco and Fabrizio Zanotti
Philippines: Tony Lascuna and Gerald Rosales
Puerto Rico: Wilfredo Morales and Miguel Suárez
Scotland: Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren
South Africa: Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman
Spain: José Maria Olazábal and Miguel Angel Jiménez
Sweden: Robert Karlsson and Peter Hanson
Thailand: Thongchai Jaidee and Prayad Marksaeng
The Netherlands: Robert-Jan Derksen and Maarten Lafeber
United States: Arron Oberholser and Sean O’Hair
Wales: Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge
The 2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup will launch a new and exciting era in the history of the event first played in 1953 as the Canada Cup. The event is set to continue through 2018, and most probably beyond, at Mission Hills following the signing of an agreement which brought the prestige watch manufacturer Omega together with the Club which introduced the game of golf to China by first hosting the World Cup in 1995.
John Jay Hopkins, the noted Canadian industrialist, brought to reality a dream that golf could promote goodwill between nations with the inaugural World Cup played in Montreal in 1953 then called the Canada Cup and re-titled The World Cup in 1967.
The International Federation of PGA Tours will, as custodians, oversee the 53rd edition of the event as it unfolds less than one year before the staging in Beijing of the Olympic Games at which Omega has a unique role as Official Timekeeper.
ABOUT OMEGA
The prestige watch manufacturer OMEGA was founded in Switzerland in 1848 and since then has continually set the pace in the many fields of watchmaking, from sports timekeeping and design awards to watches for professional use in space or underwater. OMEGA is closely associated with a world of achievements including the conquest of space, timekeeping at 22 Olympic Games and numerous precision records as well as the launch in 1999 of the revolutionary Co-Axial calibre, one of the 20th century’s major innovations in mechanical watchmaking designed with the English master watchmaker George Daniels. OMEGA will be Official Timekeeper for the Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.
ABOUT MISSION HILLS GOLF CLUB, CHINA
Founded in 1994, Mission Hills Golf Club, China, seeks to create ‘International Goodwill through Golf.’ The Club occupies over 15 square kilometres of land and boasts 12 signature courses designed by golf legends from five different continents.
The Jack Nicklaus, Pete Dye, José Maria Olazábal, Ernie Els, Nick Faldo, Zhang Lian-Wei, David Leadbetter, Greg Norman, Jumbo Ozaki, Vijay Singh, Annika Sorenstam and David Duval. Each course is reflective of the designers’ style, offering unique risk / reward challenges to the player. As a complete golf destination, the Club houses a five star hotel and world class spa and was voted Best Golf Resort in Asia by readers of Asian Golf Monthly in 2006 and Golf Resort of the Year in the Rest of the World category in 2005 by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO). In May 2004, the Club was accredited by the Guinness World RecordsTM as the World’s Largest Golf Facility, making a name for itself in the world of premier golf through its exceptional ability to deliver an unsurpassed level of service excellence. Mission Hills is the proud venue of the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup for the next consecutive twelve years (2007 – 2018).
ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL GOLF ASSOCIATION
Established by Canadian industrialist John Jay Hopkins in 1953, the International Golf Association has pursued the mission of "International Goodwill through Golf" for over fifty years. As the owner of the World Cup name, IGA has sanctioned the world's most prestigious international team golf competition throughout six decades. IGA is governed by its Board of Directors, comprised by Chairman Jonathan S. Linen (Advisor to the Chairman, American Express), Deane R. Beman (Former PGA TOUR Commissioner), J. B. McCoy (Retired Chairman, Bank One Corporation) and Bill Souders (Former Executive Vice-President and
Labels: Pro Men
posted by Colin |
See story on its own page | Wednesday, October 03, 2007
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home