While it doesn't get the international attention of the other World Cup, the World Cup of Golf is one of the truly unique events in the sport. Pitting 26 teams against one another, each representing a different country, the heart of the 2013 World Cup of Golf is which side comes out on top.
Invitations are doled out to the world's Top 15 players, with no more than four players from the same country being allowed to compete. There is no requirement for participation. From there, players are added to the field two at a time until the field of 60 is filled, thus creating as close to an evenly matched format as possible.
For countries with more than two players, only the top two scores will be recorded.
The event is mostly structured to be a precursor to the 2016 Summer Olympics, where golf will return to the program after more than a century away. There will be no team element to the events in Rio De Janeiro, but this year's World Cup format was changed to four rounds of stroke play in order mirror what participants can expect in a few years.
The United States has won the event a record 24 times and comes in as the defending champions. Matt Kuchar is returning from his 2011 victory to team with Kevin Streelman, but there is actually a good amount of competition in the field this year. Adam Scott, the world's second-ranked player, is joined by Jason Day for the host country.
Individually, the players will also be competing for a massive purse of $7 million, including $1.2 million for the winner. The country that wins the team event will split a $1 million prize, so it's not all that bad to be on a great team, either.
With that in mind, here is a complete breakdown of all the day-by-day action from Melbourne, highlighting the individual and team results.
The day belonged to Australia.
Jason Day shot a one-under 70 in Melbourne on Sunday, holding off Denmark's Thomas Bjorn to capture the World Cup of Golf individual title. The 26-year-old notched an impressive three top-10s in majors this year, but this was surprisingly just his first tournament win since 2010.
Here's a look at the final individual standings, courtesy of WorldCup.PGATour.com:
PosPlayerCountryRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4TotalNot only did he capture the impressive individual title, but Day and red-hot Adam Scott, who shot a five-under 66 to skyrocket to third place overall, won the team title for Australia with a combined 17-under for the tournament.
And it wasn't even close.
USA, behind Matt Kuchar and Kevin Streelman, came in second at seven-under, while Denmark (Bjorn and Thorbjorn Olesen) and Japan (Ryo Ishikawa and Hideto Tanihara) finished tied at five-under.
Here's a look at the final team standings:
Jason Day birdied his first two holes on Saturday, and it was a sign of things to come as he soared to the top of the leaderboard with a five-under 66 to get to nine under overall.
That was good enough to give the Aussie a one-stroke lead over Thomas Bjorn, who has hovered among the leaders since the beginning of the event at Royal Melbourne Golf Club.
Before taking a closer look at the players' rounds, here is a list of scores from the top contenders:
PosPlayerCountryRd 1Rd 2Rd 3TotalBjorn matched Day with a birdie at the par-four first, but that would be one of only two on the day for the Danish veteran.
The American side took a bit of a hit when Kevin Streelman went bogey, double bogey and bogey on Nos. 2 through 4 to begin his round. Streelman, to his credit, fought back amiably from that nightmare start and played one under par the rest of the way. However, it resulted in a three-over 74.
USA compatriot Matt Kuchar carded a second straight 68, with this one being bogey-free and a testament to the consistency Kuch has displayed on the PGA Tour over the past couple of seasons.
Another world-class player in Adam Scott has bounced back after a disappointing 75 to open the tournament, as Scott has fired consecutive 68s of his own. It's helped vault Australia to the top of the team standings, one stroke ahead of the United States.
Here is a look at the team standings, which will be an intriguing battle to watch on Sunday:
One shot behind Kuchar in the individual standings at five under is Francesco Molinari, who matched Day's 66 for, well, the round of the day.
Don't count out major champion Graeme McDowell either. His round of 67 shot him back into contention at minus-four, just five strokes off Day's pace entering the final day.
Perhaps the most colorful tale of the day belonged to Stuart Manley, who began with two birdies before sinking a hole-in-one on the par-three third hole.
On the very next hole, Manley made an 11 on a par-four. A septuple bogey. He bounced back, though, salvaging a one-over 72 even with a bogey at the last—thanks largely to an eagle at the par-five 15th.
Reigning PGA Championship winner Jason Dufner poked a little fun at the 11:
After making a 11,no doubt the official will meet u after your next tee and inform you, that u are now on the clock Thanks mate.
— Jason Dufner (@JasonDufner) November 23, 2013
Golf is a funny game sometimes.
Note: Leaderboards are courtesy of GolfChannel.com.
It was business as usual at the top of the leaderboard by the time Day 2 had concluded at the 2013 edition of the World Cup of Golf.
Denmark's very own Thomas Bjorn added five more birdies on the day to bring his total to 12 through the first two days.
USA's Kevin Steelman kept things interesting by hanging around courtesy of five birdies, but a bogey on eight and a double bogey on nine was the stretch that ruined his chances of taking the top spot.
Perhaps the biggest story of the day was Australia's Adam Scott, who shot his way back from a horrific 75 on Thursday to sit at one-over and bring his country back into the picture in the standings.
Here's a look at how the leaderboard played out, courtesy of the Golf Channel:
The United States managed to pull away from Denmark thanks to Steelman's performance, but a late push from Matt Kuchar and his 68 with four birdies to end the day tied for fifth kicked in as well.
Denmark retained second place, but it was Australia that was able to sneak into the shaky field thanks to the excellent performance from Scott and another solid effort from Jason Day, who did just enough with his 70 to remain tied for third.
Here's a look at the team leaderboard, via the Golf Channel:
Day started Friday's action two shots off the co-leaders, but his country's status in the standings has to be reassuring at this point.
An impressive performance from Hideto Tanihara with five birdies not only catapulted him into contention, but brought Japan into the conversation as well.
If you want to be the king, you've got to beat the king. Through the first day of play at the 2013 World Cup of Golf, Kevin Streelman is making sure the United States keeps its crown.
But Dane Thomas Bjorn is having his own ideas.
Streelman shot a five-under score of 66, tying Bjorn and helping the United States sit in a deadlock with Denmark after Thursday. The 35-year-old Illinois native shot a whopping seven birdies and stuck in the lead for most of his back nine but bogeyed on No. 18 to finish in a tie with Bjorn. At one point, Streelman went under-par on five of his first six holes on the back nine.
Bjorn equalled the American's birdie total but carded an early double bogey that was the only downfall of his round. The duo atop the leaderboard holds an advantage over a solid triad of players at four-under, on an afternoon where the course conditions didn't afford many low scores. Here's a look at how the leaderboard played out, courtesy of PGATour.com:
The team competition almost entirely belonged to Denmark and the United States in Round 1. Matt Kuchar and Thorbjorn Olesen, Streelman and Bjorn's partners, respectively, each shot even-par rounds, so Denmark and the United States are tied for the overall lead at five-under. While that number isn't as great as they hoped, it's good enough for a two-stroke lead over Portugal at two-under.
Those three countries were the only ones with multiple strokes under-par. Throughout the day, it seemed all other teams would take one step forward for every one step back. If there were such a thing as team chemistry in golf—and there's not, especially in this event where the golfers are playing their rounds separately—most would have been low.
Here's a look at the team leaderboard, via PGATour.com:
Surprisingly, the pressure of playing before his home crowd got to world No. 2 Adam Scott. The Aussie struggled to find his rhythm the entire day and then saw his round go completely off the rails on the par-four 13th. Spraying the ball all over the hole and taking multiple drops, Scott wound up carding a nine. While he played the other holes one-under, Scott is hanging well behind overall at four-over.
Jason Day was able to prop up his countryman with a three-under day to keep Australia on the fringes of contention. New Zealanders Michael Hendry and Tim Wilkinson also struggled their way to finishing as one of three countries at 10-over or worse.
In all, though, this was a day befitting the World Cup moniker. The low scores were rather few and far between considering the solid field, and more importantly, a ton of golf-loving countries had something to root for.
For now, the United States and Denmark get to cheer the loudest. It will be interesting to see whether this continues, or some other country—looking at you Australia—can make a come-from-behind effort to get back in the mix.