The 18 seeded nations for the 2002 World Golf Championships - EMC² World Cup have been announced.
The United States, represented by Phil Mickelson and David Toms, the second and sixth ranked players in the Official World Golf Ranking, is the Number One seed.
Players qualified for this year's EMC² World Cup by virtue of their standings in the Official World Golf Ranking. The highest ranked available players representing 18 countries automatically qualified for the event. They were joined in the field by the host country, Mexico. The remaining five teams in the field will be determined October 10-13 with the top three finishers at the Davidoff Nations Cup tournament to be held at the Palm Resort Golf and Country Club in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, and the top two teams from the Nations Cup at Paradise Village Beach Resort and Spa in Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico, earning places in the tournament.
The following are the 18 seeded nations.
No.1 -- United States (Phil Mickelson/David Toms)
Phil Mickelson and David Toms will represent the United States in this year's EMC² World Cup. Mickelson, the World Numebr Two, has won 21 times in his PGA Tour career title, including this year's Bob Hope
Chrysler Classic and Canon Greater Hartford Open. A veteran of four Ryder Cup and four Presidents Cup teams, this will be his first appearance in the EMC² World Cup. Toms, the sixth ranked player in the world, won the 2001 US PGA Championship, one of his seven career PGA Tour titles. He is also playing in the EMC² World Cup for the first time.
No. 2 Seed -- Fiji (Vijay Singh/Dinesh Chand)
Fiji earns the second seed based on the play of Vijay Singh. Singh has won 31 times around the globe, including this year's Shell Houston Open, his tenth career PGA Tour title. Singh will partner with Dinesh Chand, a regular competitor on the Japan Golf Tour. Chand, whose best finish this year is a tie for ninth in the PGA Matchplay Championship, has won twice in Japan, including last year's Munsingwear Open KSP Cup. Singh and Chand teamed to finish tied for eighth in last year's EMC² World Cup.
No. 3 Seed -- Ireland (Padraig Harrington/Paul McGinley)
Padraig Harrington, the ninth ranked player in the world, earns the third seed for Ireland. The four time European Tour winner will once again be paired with his good friend, Paul McGinley. This will be the sixth consecutive year that these two have played together, posting a victory in the 1997 World Cup of Golf. 2002 has been another successful year for Harrington with eight top ten finishes in 20 worldwide starts. His best finish this year has been a tie for second in the Smurfit European Open. McGinley, who is ranked 72nd in the world, holed the winning putt for Europe in The 34th Ryder Cup Macthes at The De Vere Belfry last week.
No. 4 Seed -- New Zealand (Michael Campbell/Craig Perks)
Michael Campbell will again lead the New Zealand team. Last year in Japan Campbell teamed with David Smail to finish tied for second, losing to South Africa in a four-team playoff. This year Campbell will team with Craig
Perks, winner of this year's Players Championship. Campbell is having another solid campaign with a victory in the Smurfit European Open and nine top ten finishes around the world. He is ranked 13th in the most recent
Official World Golf Ranking and is fifth on the Volvo Order of Merit. Perks is in the midst of a breakthrough season with more than $1.6 million in earnings. In addition to his win at the TPC as Sawgrass, he tied for fifth at the Genuity Championship and tied for ninth at The International presented by Qwest.
No. 5 Seed -- Argentina (Angel Cabrera/Eduardo Romero)
The team of Angel Cabrera and Eduardo Romero will again represent Argentina. In 2000, in front of their home fans, they battled the United States team of Tiger Woods and David Duval down to the wire before finishing second. Both players have earned victories in Europe this year, Cabrera at the Benson & Hedges International Open, and Romero at The Barclays Scottish Open. Romero's victory, his eighth career European Tour title, made him, at age 47, the third-oldest player to win on the European Tour. This will be Romero's 13th time to represent Argentina and Cabrera's fifth.
No. 6 Seed -- Japan (Shigeki Maruyama/Toshi Izawa)
Shigeki Maruyama and Toshi Izawa will team up for the second year to represent Japan. Last year, in front of home fans at The Taiheiyo Club in Gotemba City, Japan, they tied for 11th. Maruyama made history earlier this
year, when he became the first player from Japan to win for a second time on the PGA Tour with his victory in the Verizon Byron Nelson Classic. Izawa, an 11-time victor on the Japan Golf Tour, finished second at the Aiful Cup for his best finish to date in 2002. In addition to his two career PGA Tour titles, Maruyama has won nine times on the Japan Golf Tour.
No. 7 Seed -- Canada (Mike Weir/Ian Leggatt)
Mike Weir and Ian Leggatt will form the Canadian team for the second consecutive year. Last year in Japan the pair tied for sixth. Weir, winner of the 2000 WGC - American Express Championship, will attempt to become
the only player other than Tiger Woods to win more than one World Golf Championships event. Leggatt is in the midst of his best year on the PGA Tour. In February he earned his first career victory with a two stroke win
over David Peoples and Loren Roberts at the Touchstone Energy Tucson Open. He has won more than $1.1 million and ranks 41st on the PGA Tour money list.
No. 8 Seed -- Sweden (Niclas Fasth/Carl Pettersson)
Sweden will be represented by European Ryder Cup player Niclas Fasth and Carl Petterson. Fasth, the 32nd-ranked player in the world, has had five top ten finishes in 2002, with his best being a second in the Dubai Desert Classic and a tie for second in the Murphy's Irish Open. The winner of the 2000 Madeira Island Open, he played in his first EMC² World Cup last year with Robert Karlsson. His partner this year, Carl Pettersson, is one of the up-and-coming young stars on The European Tour. He earned his first career title this April at the Algarve Open de Portugal, and has four other top ten finishes.
No. 9 Seed -- England (Justin Rose/Paul Casey)
Justin Rose has emerged as one of the top players in the game with his successful 2002 season. He has won four times around the world on three Tours. On The European Tour International Schedule he has had victories in the dunhill championship and Victor Chandler British Masters. Rose has also won on the South African Tour at the Nashua Masters and on the Japan Golf Tour at the Chunichi Crowns. He is currently seventh on the Volvo Order of Merit. Rose, who will be making his first appearance for England, will partner Paul Casey, who replaced Nick Faldo when the six time Major winner pulled out with an elbow injury. Casey partnered Ian Poulter last year and the duo finished fifth in Japan, three shots behind the eventual winners South Africa. Casey won the Scottish PGA Championship at Gleneagles in 2001 on his way to being named that year Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.
No. 10 Seed -- Australia (Adam Scott/Craig Parry)
Adam Scott, who at age 22 has already won three times on The European Tour, will represent Australia for the second time. Scott has won twice in 2002 with victories in the Qatar Masters and Gleneagles Scottish PGA
Championship. This year he will partner with Craig Parry. In August, Parry won the World Golf Championships NEC Invitational. That win in Seattle was his second title of the year, the first coming in January at the TelstraSaturn Hyuandai New Zealand Open. Parry will be making his first appearance in the EMC² World Cup.
No. 11 Seed -- Scotland (Paul Lawrie/Alastair Forsyth)
The 1999 Open Champion, Paul Lawrie, will team with countryman Alastair Forsyth. Lawrie is having strong season, having earned his fifth career European Tour title in the Celtic Manor Resort Wales Open. In
addition, he tied for second in both the Smurfit European Open and Omega European Masters. He is currently 15th on the Volvo Order of Merit and is the 46th-ranked player in the world. Forsyth came in, in place of the 2001 Volvo PGA Champion Andrew Oldcorn, who had to withdraw through injury to a disc in his back. Forsyth claimed his maiden Tour victory in March in the Carlsberg Malaysian Open on his way to finishing 42 on the Volvo Order of Merit. This year will mark Lawrie's third time to represent Scotland in the EMC² World Cup, and Forsyth's first.
No. 12 Seed -- Korea (K.J. Choi/Hur Suk-ho)
K.J. Choi, the 55th ranked player in the world, earns the 13th seed for Korea. Choi is one of seven multiple winners on the 2002 PGA Tour. He earned his first title in May at the Compaq Classic of New Orleans, and followed with another two weeks ago at the Tampa Bay Classic presented by Buick. A winner of four other events around the globe, Choi currently ranks 17th on the PGA Tour money list with more than $1.9 million. Choi's partner in the EMC² World Cup is Hur Suk-ho, the 140th ranked player in the world, who has one twice in 2002: the Shinhan Donghae Open on the Asian Tour and the Juken Sangyo Open Hiroshima on the Japan Golf Tour.
No. 13 Seed -- Denmark (Anders Hansen/Søren Hansen)
Anders Hansen and Søren Hansen, a pair of winners on this year's European Tour International Schedule, will represent Denmark. Anders Hansen claimed his first-ever title in May at the Volvo PGA Championship, capping off a run of three consecutive top ten finishes. Søren Hansen earned his first career title at Murphy's Irish Open five weeks after his good friend Anders. His victory came in his first start after finishing runner-up to Darren Clarke in the Compass Group English Open. It will be Søren's second time to represent Denmark, and Anders's first. Last year, Søren teamed with Thomas Björn to finish tied for second in Japan, losing in a four-team playoff to South Africa.
No. 14 Seed -- France (Thomas Levet/Raphael Jacquelin)
Thomas Levet, who gained worldwide attention with his tie for second place at this year's Open Golf Championship, will lead the team from France. The 76th-ranked player in the world, Levet has won twice on The European Tour. In addition to competing in the 1998 World Cup of Golf, Levet has participated in each of the EMC² World Cups since the event became part of the World Golf Championships series. He will again team with Raphael Jacquelin, his partner in an eighth-place tie last year in Japan. Jacquelin's best finish this year has been a tie for third at the Compass Group English Open, site of his career-best runner-up finish in 2001.
No. 15 Seed -- South Africa (Tim Clark/Rory Sabbatini)
South Africa, the defending champions of the EMC² World Cup, will be represented to by two different players in this year's competition. Last year's team of Ernie Els and Retief Goosen are unable to compete due to prior commitments. This year's South African team will consist of Tim Clark and Rory Sabbatini. Clark led the Southern Africa Tour's Order of Merit in 2001/2002, winning the Bell's South African Open along the way. Sabbatini,
winner of the 2000 Air Canada Championship, is ranked 92nd in the world. He has posted three top ten finishes in 2002, including a tie for second at the Nissan Open.
No. 16 Seed -- Wales (Ian Woosnam/Bradley Dredge)
Ian Woosnam, winner of 44 events around the world, will represent Wales for the 16th time. In 1987 he teamed with David Llewellyn to win the World Cup for Wales. Woosnam, currently 33rd on the Volvo Order of Merit, has four top ten finishes in 2002, including ties for third in the Novotel Perrier Open de France and the Linde German Masters. Woosnam will be joined by Bradley Dredge, who has seen his world ranking rise to 97th on the strength of seven top ten finishes on The European Tour, including a tie for second in the Smurfit European Open.
No. 17 Seed -- Trinidad & Tobago (Stephen Ames/Robert Ames)
In the midst of his best season on the PGA Tour, Stephen Ames will team with his brother Robert to represent Trinidad & Tobago. A two-time winner on The European Tour, Ames is ranked 38th on the 2002 PGA Tour money list with more than $1.2 million in earnings. He finished second at The Players Championship, one of his four top ten finishes this year. This is only the third time that a team from Trinadad & Tobago has competed. In 2000, the Ames brothers finished 19th at Buenos Aires Golf Club in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
No. 18 Seed -- Germany (Alex Cejka/Sven Strüver)
Alex Cejka and Sven Strüver will represent Germany. Cejka, a three-time winner on The European Tour, is the 111th-ranked player in the world and is coming off top ten finishes in his last two starts, a tie for sixth in the
Omega European Masters and second in the Linde German Masters. Strüver, also a three-time winner in Europe, finished second earlier this season at the Great North Open.
Host Nation -- Mexico (Esteban Toledo/Pablo del Olmo)
This year's host nation, Mexico, will be represented by Esteban Toledo and Pablo del Olmo. Toledo, a member of the PGA Tour, matched his career-best finish earlier this year when he finished tied for second in the Buick
Open. This year will mark his fifth time representing Mexico. Toledo's partner, del Olmo, competes regularly on the Asian Tour. Earlier this year he won the Michelen Ixtapa Classic, a Canadian Tour event. In Asia, he finished second at the Volvo China Open and third at the Casino Filipino Philippine Open.
Tickets to the 2002 EMC² World Cup are available by calling 01 800 362 2002 in Mexico, 221 0402 in Puerto Vallarta or 1-866-809-3127 in the United States or Canada.
About the EMC² World Cup
The EMC² World Cup is one of four tournaments worldwide that make up the World Golf Championships. Players qualify for the EMC² World Cup by virtue of their standings in the Official World Golf Ranking. The highest ranked
available players representing 18 countries will automatically qualify for the event, as will the host nation, Mexico. In addition, five teams will become eligible via qualifying competitions in Malaysia and Mexico.
This year's EMC² World Cup will be the final of four World Golf Championships contested in 2002. It will be played Dec. 10-15 at Vista Vallarta's Nicklaus Course in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The Accenture Match Play Championship was held Feb. 18-24 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California, USA with Kevin Sutherland earning the title. The NEC Invitational was played Aug. 20-25 at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Washington, USA, with Australian Craig Parry emerging victorious. Tiger Woods won his sixth World Golf Championships title at the American Express Championship, Sept. 17-22, at Mount Juliet in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland.
The 2003 EMC² World Cup at Kiawah Island, South Carolina, will be played the week of Nov. 10-16.
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