Omega World Cup History and Past Winners

There’s more match play this week as the Omega World Cup gets underway.

The World Cup of Golf began as the Canada Cup, a tournament founded by John Jay Hopkins, a wealthy industrialist. Hopkins was president of Electric Boat in 1948 when that firm purchased Canadiar, a Canadian aircraft manufacturer (thus the origin of the Canada Cup). He later went on to found and run General Dynamics.

The first Canada Cup was held in Montreal, where it was known as the Canada Cup and International Golf Championship. Roberto de Vicenzo and Antonio Cerda won the inaugural event.  It was played one more year in Canada, and then began globetrotting: Wentworth, Tokyo, Mexico City, Melbourne, Dublin, Puerto Rico, Buenos Aires, Paris, Maui and Madrid.

The list of winners over the years is a who’s who of golf: Roberto de Vicenzo, Sam Snead, Kel Nagle, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Seve Ballesteros, Hale Irwin, Johnny Miller, Fred Couples, Davis Love, Ernie Els and Tiger Woods.

Even more intriguing have been some of the winning pairings: Palmer and Nicklaus, Woods and O”Meara, Miller and Nicklaus, Demaret and Snead.

Hopkins saw the tournament—and golf in general—as a means of spreading international good will. In fact, that was the slogan of his 1952 creation, the International Golf Association: “International Good Will Through Golf.”

Hopkins said: “Golf is a civilized and a civilizing game. It’s a game for good neighbors. It has the spice of good competition, while imposing the highest moral restraints.”

“It is my hope that the International Tournament will serve through the spirit of the game to bind people together. The thousands, and hopefully, ultimately millions who watch these sportsmen must inevitably recognize the common bond that links all nations.”

Starting in 1967, the Canada cup became known as the World Cup of Golf in 1967. In 2000, it became one of the World Golf Championships events. It lost its WGC status in 2007.

The Canada Cup began as a 36 hole stroke play event, counting the combined scores of the two man team. It was a 72 hole stroke play event from 1954 to 1999. Beginning in 2000, the format is alternating stroke play rounds of bestball (fourball) and alternate shot (foursomes). From 1955 to 1999, there was also a separate award, the International Trophy, for the individual with the best 72 hole score.

Qualifiers for the tournament begin with the top eighteen available in the World Golf Rankings, each from a different country. Each of these then picks a player from their country (who must be in the top 100) to be the other member of their team. If no player from their country is ranked, the next highest is chosen. Nine other countries qualify via three qualifying stages. China, as host nation, gets the final team.

The event is a 72-hole stroke play team event with each team consisting of two players. The first and third days are fourball play and the second and final days are foursomes play.

Sadly, since 2007, the tournament has sold out to Chinese corporate interests and rather than traveling the world has settled in at the Chinese golf megaplex at Mission Hills. It’s a nice site, but a long way from the traveling golf roadshow for international cooperation envisioned by Hopkins.

A complete list of past winners follows:

Year	Country	Team	Location
2011	November 24-27	Shenzhen China
2009	Italy	Edoardo Molinari & Francesco Molinari	Shenzhen China
2008	Sweden	Robert Karlsson & Henrik Stenson	Shenzhen China
2007	Scotland	Colin Montgomerie & Marc Warren	Shenzhen China

Year	Country	Team	Location
2006	Germany	Bernhard Langer & Marcel Siem	Sandy Lane Resort Barbados
2005	Wales	Stephen Dodd & Bradley Dredge	Algarve Portugal
2004	England	Paul Casey & Luke Donald	Seville
2003	South Africa	Trevor Immelman & Rory Sabbatini	Kiawah Island
2002	Japan	Toshimitsu Izawa & Shigeki Maruyama	Puerto Vallarta Mexico
2001	South Africa	Ernie Els & Retief Goosen	Gotemba Japan
2000	United States	David Duval & Tiger Woods	Buenos Aires Argentina

Year	Country	Team	Individual	Location
1999	United States	Mark O’Meara & Tiger Woods	United States Tiger Woods	Kuala Lumpur
1998	England	David Carter & Nick Faldo	United States Scott Verplank	Auckland
1997	Ireland	Pádraig Harrington & Paul McGinley	Scotland Colin Montgomerie	Kiawah Island
1996	South Africa	Ernie Els & Wayne Westner	South Africa Ernie Els	Cape Town
1995	United States	Fred Couples & Davis Love III	United States Davis Love III	Shenzhen China
1994	United States	Fred Couples & Davis Love III	United States Fred Couples	Dorado Puerto Rico
1993	United States	Fred Couples & Davis Love III	Germany Bernhard Langer	Orlando

Year	Country	Team	Individual	Location
1992	United States	Fred Couples & Davis Love III	Australia Brett Ogle	Madrid
1991	Sweden	Anders Forsbrand & Per-Ulrik Johansson	Wales Ian Woosnam	Rome
1990	Germany	Torsten Giedeon & Bernhard Langer	United States Payne Stewart	Orlando
1989	Australia	Peter Fowler & Wayne Grady	Australia Peter Fowler	Marbella Spain
1988	United States	Ben Crenshaw & Mark McCumber	United States Ben Crenshaw	Melbourne
1987	Wales	David Llewellyn & Ian Woosnam	Wales Ian Woosnam	Maui
1986	No tournament
1985	Canada	Dave Barr & Dan Halldorson	England Howard Clark	La Quinta California
1984	Spain	José Maria Cañizares & José Rivero	Spain José Maria Cañizares	Rome
1983	United States	Rex Caldwell & John Cook	Canada Dave Barr	Jakarta Indonesia
1982	Spain	José Maria Cañizares & Manuel Piñero	Spain Manuel Piñero	Acapulco
1981	No tournament
1980	Canada	Dan Halldorson & Jim Nelford	Scotland Sandy Lyle	Bogotá
1979	United States	Hale Irwin & John Mahaffey	United States Hale Irwin	Athens
1978	United States	John Mahaffey & Andy North	United States John Mahaffey	Hanalei Hawaii
1977	Spain	Seve Ballesteros & Antonio Garrido	South Africa Gary Player	Manila
1976	Spain	Seve Ballesteros & Manuel Piñero	Mexico Ernesto Perez Acosta	Palm Springs
1975	United States	Lou Graham & Johnny Miller	United States Johnny Miller	Bangkok
1974	South Africa	Bobby Cole & Dale Hayes	South Africa Bobby Cole	Caracas
1973	United States	Johnny Miller & Jack Nicklaus	United States Johnny Miller	Marbella
1972	Taiwan	Hsieh Min-Nan & Lu Liang-Huan	Republic of China Hsieh Min-Nan	Melbourne
1971	United States	Jack Nicklaus & Lee Trevino	United States Jack Nicklaus	Palm Beach
1970	Australia	Bruce Devlin & David Graham	Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo	Buenos Aires
1969	United States	Orville Moody & Lee Trevino	United States Lee Trevino	Singapore
1968	Canada	Al Balding & George Knudson	Canada Al Balding	Rome
1967	United States	Jack Nicklaus & Arnold Palmer	United States Arnold Palmer	Mexico City

Year	Country	Team	Individual	Location
1966	United States	Jack Nicklaus & Arnold Palmer	Canada George Knudson	Tokyo
1965	South Africa	Harold Henning & Gary Player	South Africa Gary Player	Madrid
1964	United States	Jack Nicklaus & Arnold Palmer	United States Jack Nicklaus	Maui Hawaii USA
1963	United States	Jack Nicklaus & Arnold Palmer	United States Jack Nicklaus	Paris
1962	United States	Arnold Palmer & Sam Snead	Argentina Roberto De Vicenzo	Buenos Aires
1961	United States	Jimmy Demaret & Sam Snead	United States Sam Snead	Dorado Puerto Rico
1960	United States	Arnold Palmer & Sam Snead	Belgium Flory Van Donck	Portmarnock Dublin
1959	Australia	Kel Nagle & Peter Thomson	Canada Stan Leonard	Melbourne
1958	Ireland	Harry Bradshaw & Christy O’Connor	Spain Ángel Miguel	Mexico City
1957	Japan	Torakichi Nakamura & Koichi Ono	Japan Torakichi Nakamura	Tokyo Japan
1956	United States	Ben Hogan & Sam Snead	United States Ben Hogan	Wentworth Surrey England
1955	United States	Ed Furgol & Chick Harbert	United States Ed Furgol	Washington DC
1954	Australia	Kel Nagle & Peter Thomson	no award	Montreal
1953	Argentina	Antonio Cerdá & Roberto De Vicenzo	no award	Montreal