Bradley Dredge and Stephen Dodd head to the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China as ‘friends reunited’ hoping to repeat their success of two years ago.
The close friendship shared by the Welsh pair carried them to World Cup glory in Portugal in 2005 and both believe that camaraderie can lift them once again over the Olazábal course at Mission Hills Golf Club, China, from November 22-25.
Dodd will always have fond memories of China having won his first European Tour title in Shanghai in the Volvo China Open at the start of the 2005 season, while Dredge is relishing a return to Mission Hills Golf Club, China, having previously visited the stunning golf complex for the Goodwill Trophy in 2006.
“I am looking forward to going over there again,” said Dredge. “I played in the Goodwill Trophy at Mission Hills last year and while it was on a different course, it is an incredible complex. Stephen has won in China and loves China so we are both really looking forward to playing again.
“The win in Portugal was huge for us and for golf in Wales. We enjoy the format, are good friends and enjoy playing together, which is important. Hopefully, we can put a good week together and contend.”
The history attached to the Omega Mission Hills World Cup is a further incentive for Dodd. He said: “It’s a big, historical event that you want to play in, and want to represent your country in. Of course, it’s one you want to win as well. Luckily, we’ve done that once and we hope to do it again.
“Bradley and I won two years ago in Portugal, and we’re great friends, which makes a big difference. We know each other’s game pretty well and we always enjoy each other’s company. There’s a bit more pressure when you’re playing with a partner, because you don’t want to let them down, so I’ll be trying my best to play well for Bradley, myself and Wales.
“It’s on a new course that I’m looking forward to visiting. And my first Tour win came in China, so it is a country that holds good memories for me.”
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.
