David Duval will try to add a second World Golf Championships-EMC2 World Cup title to his resumé when he teams up with Tiger Woods to defend their title next month in Japan.
The United States team of Duval and Woods will be among 24 countries vying for the John Jay Hopkins Trophy when the EMC2 World Cup is held from November 15-18 at The Taiheiyo Club's Gotemba Course in Shizuoka, Japan.
With Woods rated Number One on the Official World Golf Ranking, and Duval third, the United States will go into the tournament as the top-seeded team.
"Any time you go as a team, and you go around the world, it's great to compete well and win," said Duval, winner of the 2001 Open Championship. "I don't like to speak for anyone else, but I will speak for Tiger on that we have no intention of not winning that golf tournament.
"Certainly, we may very well get beaten, but we are going to do our best to play hard because we want to win."
As favourites in the 2000 event in Buenos Aires, Duval and Woods held off a spirited charge by Argentina's Eduardo Romero and Angel Cabrera to win the first EMC2 World Cup to be played as a World Golf Championships event. This year's host team, Toshi Izawa and Shigeki Maruyama of Japan, will be trying to duplicate or exceed that result.
The EMC2 World Cup will cap a busy stretch of events for Duval, who lost out in a play-off while defending his title in the Buick Challenge. He then competes in The Tour Championship in Houston, flying to Japan to play in the Dunlop Phoenix and then defending the EMC2 World Cup
"I am really looking forward to the stretch of golf," said Duval. "It will be a lot of fun. It's going to be tiring, but I am ready. I am up for it."
