Aussies Aim to Keep World Cup of Golf

The World Cup of Golf starting Wednesday brings together golfers from 32 nations, but only a handful of the two-man teams have a real chance of winning the giant silver cup.

Defending champion Australia is among the half-dozen or so favorites, although neither player from last year is playing this time.

Peter Senior and Brian Jones, two of the hottest players in their part of the world, have taken over for Australia from Peter Fowler, who won the 1989 individual title, and Wayne Grady.

Their fiercest challengers are expected to be the United States, Canada, Spain and Wales, which have produced the last 13 World Cup winners.

The four-day event, which is conducted annually at various sites around the world, will be played at Orlando’s Grand Cypress Resort on a 6,751-yard course designed by Jack Nicklaus.

The cup winner will be decided by the lowest combined total posted by both team members over 72 holes.

One of the strongest teams in the 32-nation field is Wales, which won the 1987 World Cup at Maui, Hawaii, when Ian Woosnam took the individual title and he and David Llewellyn survived a sudden-death playoff to take the cup.

As in 1987, when he won the European Order of Merit and dominated international golf, Woosnam is again in top form, having won five tournaments this year. Woosnam is teamed with Mark Mouland, who is playing for Wales for the second time.

Payne Stewart, the third-leading money winner on the PGA Tour, and Jodie Mudd, winner of this year’s Players Championship, are playing for the United States, which is seeking its 18th title in 36 World Cup events. The U.S. team last won in 1988 at Melbourne, Australia.

Mark James, making his seventh World Cup appearance, and cup rookie Richard Boxall, winner of this year’s Italian Open, will play for England.

Ronan Rafferty and David Feherty, who helped Ireland win the Dunhill Cup at St. Andrew’s this year, will represent Ireland.

The presence of international star Bernhard Langer, a Masters champion who is playing in this event for the first time in 10 years, will give Germany an outside chance to win its first World Cup.

Langer will team with Torsten Giedeon, who is playing in his seventh World Cup.