The 2018 ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf will take place at The Metropolitan Golf Club in Australia from November 22-25.
Some of the finest golfers in the world will gather at the course in Victoria to contest the 59th edition of the tournament. There will be 56 players competing in pairs, with each pair representing their country. The format is a 72-hole stroke play event, in which the first and third days consist of fourball play and the second and fourth consist of foursomes.
The United States lead the way for titles won with 23. Among the men to have claimed victory for the Americans are Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Ben Hogan.
Europeantour.com takes a closer look at the teams set to tee it up on the Gold Coast.
Australia: Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith
Leishman won his only European Tour title at the 2016 Nedbank Golf Challenge. The 35 year old finished runner-up at The 2015 Open Championship and is currently 19th in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Smith claimed his first tour victory in December 2017 at the Australian PGA Championship in his home state of Queensland. He beat compatriot Jordan Zunic in a play-off at RACV Royal Pines Resort.
Belgium: Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry
Pieters has three wins on tour, including two in the space of a fortnight in 2015. He played for Europe at The 2016 Ryder Cup.
Detry went to the same University as teammate Pieters and has been on the European Tour since graduating from the Challenge Tour in 2016.
Canada: Adam Hadwin and Nick Taylor
Hadwin attended the University of Louisville and won the 2017 Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour.
Taylor is a Winnipeg-native who won the 2015 Sanderson Farms Championship on the PGA Tour
China: Haotong Li and Ashun Wu
Li won his first European Tour title at the 2016 Volvo China Open, before claiming his second in impressive fashion at the 2018 Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Wu won his third tour title at the 2018 KLM Open. He represented his country at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Denmark: Thorbjørn Olesen and Søren Kjeldsen
Olesen won the 2016 World Cup with Kjeldsen, with the duo finishing four shots clear of France, China and the United States. He won the 2018 Italian Open to reach five European Tour victories.
Kjeldsen will be making his seventh appearance in this competition. The four-time tour winner represented his country for the first time in 1998.
England: Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter
Hatton was part of the winning European team at The 2018 Ryder Cup. He has won three European Tour titles, including the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship twice.
Poulter will represent his country for the first time at the World Cup of Golf. The 12-time tour winner was also a teammate of Hatton’s at The Ryder Cup in September.
Finland: Mikko Korhonen and Mikko Ilonen
Korhonen will represent Finland exactly ten years after his only other World Cup of Golf appearance. The 38 year old won the inaugural Shot Clock Masters earlier this year.
Ilonen has five European Tour wins to his name, the last of which was the 2014 Volvo World Match Play Championship.
France: Alexander Levy and Mike Lorenzo-Vera
Levy has represented Europe in the 2018 EurAsia Cup and will make his World Cup of Golf debut this week. The California-born Frenchman won his fifth European Tour trophy at the Trophée Hassan II in April.
Lorenzo-Vera came close to winning on tour for the first time when he lost a play-off to Joakim Lagergren at the 2018 Rocco Forte Sicilian Open. He represented France at the 2018 GolfSixes.
Germany: Martin Kaymer and Maximilian Kieffer
Kaymer is a two-time Major Champion whose most recent worldwide victory was the second of those Major triumphs, at the 2014 US Open.
Kieffer represented Germany at the 2013 World Cup of Golf. He was involved in a nine-hole play-off at the 2013 Open de España, which he eventually lost to Raphaël Jacquelin.
Greece: Peter Karmis and Alexander Tranacher
Karmis is a dual citizen of Greece and South Africa and is the highest-ranked Greek in the world.
Athens-native Tranacher has played on the Pro Golf Tour and is the only other Greek in the Official World Golf Ranking.
India: Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri
Bhullar won the Fiji International last season and represented India in this tournament in 2013 alongside Lahiri.
Lahiri won twice in 2015, at the Malaysian Championship and the Hero Indian Open.
Ireland: Paul Dunne and Shane Lowry
Dunne won his first European Tour title at the 2017 Sky Sports British Masters. As an amateur he co-led The 2015 Open Championship after 54 holes.
Lowry won the 2009 Irish Open as an amateur and has since gone on to win two other European Tour titles, including the 2015 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Italy: Renato Paratore and Andrea Pavan
Paratore has gained a reputation as one of the fastest players on tour. He won his first title at the 2017 Nordea Masters.
Roman-born Pavan claimed his only European Tour victory at the 2018 D+D REAL Czech Masters. He enjoyed a successful period at Texas A&M University and still lives in the Lone Star State.
Japan: Satoshi Kodaira and Hideto Tanihara
Kodaira won the 2018 RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour. The 29 year old was born in Tokyo and still lives there.
Tanihara has represented his country three times at the World Cup of Golf. His best results on the European Tour are ties for third at the 2018 KLM Open and the 2017 BMW PGA Championship.
South Korea: Byeong Hun An and Si Woo Kim
An won his only European Tour title at the 2015 BMW PGA Championship. The 27 year old represented his country twice in 2016, at the World Cup of Golf and the Olympic Games.
Kim is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour. He was born in Seoul, like teammate An, but now lives in Texas.
Malaysia: Gavin Green and Ben Leong
Green is renowned as one of the biggest hitters on the European Tour. His best finish on tour is outright second at the 2017 Hero Indian Open.
Leong has won on the Asian Tour and will make his World Cup of Golf debut this week.
Mexico: Abraham Ancer and Roberto Diaz
Ancer was born in Texas, grew up in Mexico, but now lives in the United States again while playing on the PGA Tour.
Diaz plays on the PGA Tour and was the only Mexican in the field at the 2017 WGC-Mexico Championship, the first time the tournament had been held in his home country.
Netherlands: Joost Luiten and Daan Huizing
Luiten is a six-time European Tour winner. He has won his home tournament, the KLM Open, twice and won his most recent title at the inaugural NBO Oman Open.
Huizing has won twice on the Challenge Tour and will make his World Cup of Golf debut in Australia.
New Zealand: Ryan Fox and Mark Brown
Fox represented his country at the 2016 Olympic Games. He was denied his first win on tour at the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation, where he lost to Russell Knox in a play-off.
Brown won the 2008 Johnnie Walker Classic, the same year he represented New Zealand in the World Cup.
Scotland: Russell Knox and Martin Laird
Knox has won twice on the European Tour, including the 2018 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open hosted by the Rory Foundation.
Laird has won three times on the PGA Tour and lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
South Africa: Dylan Frittelli and Erik Van Rooyen
Frittelli is a two-time European Tour winner and will make his World Cup debut this week.
Van Rooyen graduated from the Challenge Tour in 2017 and enjoyed an impressive debut season on the European Tour.
Spain: Adrian Otaegui and Jorge Campillo
Otaegui has won twice on tour, at the 2017 Paul Lawrie Match Play and the 2018 Belgian Knockout. The 25 year old will make his World Cup of Golf debut this week.
Campillo played for Spain at the 2017 GolfSixes. He is yet to win on tour, but has registered the most top tens of any player this season.
Sweden: Alexander Björk and Joakim Lagergren
Björk won his first title at the 2018 Volvo China Open. He will represent his country for the first time as a professional this week.
Lagergren’s only tour win came at the 2018 Rocco Forte Sicilian Open. He played for Sweden at the 2017 GolfSixes.
Thailand: Kiradech Aphibarnrat and Prom Meesawat
Aphibarnrat has won four times on tour, with his most recent win coming at the 2018 ISPS HANDA World Super 6 Perth. He has represented Thailand three times previously in this tournament, at the 2016 Olympic Games and the 2017 GolfSixes.
Meesawat, known as ‘the Big Dolphin’, will be making his tournament debut this week.
USA: Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley
Kuchar won this tournament alongside Gary Woodland in 2011. He is a veteran of four Ryder Cup teams and has also represented his country at the 2016 Olympic Games and the Presidents Cup.
Stanley is a two-time PGA Tour winner and will be making his tournament debut this week.
Venezuela: Jhonattan Vegas and Joseph Naffah
Vegas is a three-time PGA Tour winner and will make his tournament debut this week.
Naffah will be making his tournament debut this week.
Wales: Stuart Manley and Bradley Dredge
Manley is a two-time Challenge Tour winner. He will be making his second appearance in this tournament.
Dredge is a two-time tour winner. He will be making his ninth tournament appearance this week.
Zimbabwe: Scott Vincent and Benjamin Follett-Smith
Vincent will make his tournament debut this week. His best finish on tour was a share of ninth at the 2017 Fiji International.
Follett-Smith plays on the Sunshine Tour and will be making his tournament debut this week.
