BRADENTON, FLORIDA (NOVEMBER 27, 2023) – The debut of the first three-team global team golf competition for PGA TOUR Champions players is just 11 days away, and today those teams were finalized with the announcement of the Vice Captains for the World Champions Cup.
Team International Captain Ernie Els has named Stuart Appleby to his squad, while Team Europe Captain Darren Clarke has selected Jesper Parnevik and Team USA Captain Jim Furyk has chosen Billy Andrade as his Vice Captain.
The World Champions Cup is set to make its debut December 7-10, 2023, at The Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Florida. Tickets are now on sale at www.WorldChampionsCup.com. Champions Passes, which allow access to the grounds and the grandstand, start at $40 per day, with prices increasing soon. While supplies last, the tournament is offering a Black Friday “Buy One, Get One” special on all Champions Passes.
Vice Captains will serve in a non-playing role, assisting the Captains with setting the matchups for each of the World Champions Cup’s six sessions. Should any player sustain an injury and not be able to compete, the Vice Captain will be added to the playing roster for the remainder of the tournament.
Each of the three teams competing in the World Champions Cup consists of six players, including a Playing Captain. Appleby will serve under Els on a Team International squad that also includes Vijay Singh, Retief Goosen, Steven Alker, Stephen Ames and K.J. Choi. Parnevik will work with Clarke for Team Europe, which also includes Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Miguel Angel Jiménez, Robert Karlsson and Alex Čejka. On Team USA, Andrade will work with Furyk as well as Steve Stricker, David Toms, Jerry Kelly, Justin Leonard and Brett Quigley.
Inspired by the passion and tradition of the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, the World Champions Cup is officially sanctioned by PGA TOUR Champions and is set to air on ABC and ESPN. The World Champions Cup will feature Team International, Team Europe and Team USA squaring off over three days of competition that will renew some of the game’s most storied rivalries as the teams battle for international pride and global bragging rights.
Appleby is a nine-time PGA TOUR winner who also owns three PGA TOUR of Australasia victories and played on five Presidents Cup teams between 1998 and 2007. He finished T2 at The Open Championship in 2002, as he and three other players fell to Els in a four-hole aggregate playoff. The 52-year-old Australian is one of only 11 players to shoot 59 in a PGA TOUR event, accomplishing the feat in the final round of his one-stroke victory at the 2010 Greenbrier Classic.
“An event like the World Champions Cup that gives PGA TOUR Champions players the opportunity to compete in a tournament similar to the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup and rekindle some of those old rivalries has long been overdue,” Appleby said. “It will be thrilling to have all three teams going head to head, and I’m excited to be a part of Team International.”
Parnevik is a five-time PGA TOUR winner who also owns four DP World Tour victories and one PGA TOUR Champions trophy. He has finished among the top 10 five times at The Open Championship, including a pair of runner-up finishes – in 1997 he was T2 along with Clarke, three strokes behind Leonard. A native of Sweden, he represented Europe on three Ryder Cup teams, including the winning squads in 1997 and 2002.
“I was very excited to get the call from Darren and be asked to serve as his Vice Captain for Team International,” Parnevik said. “Some of my best career memories are of competing in Ryder Cups alongside many of the same players who will be playing in the World Champions Cup.”
Andrade earned four victories during an extensive PGA TOUR career and also owns three PGA TOUR Champions victories. A Rhode Island native, Andrade won the 1986 NCAA Championship while at Wake Forest. He also played on the United States team that beat Great Britain & Ireland, 16 ½ to 7 ½ in the 1987 Walker Cup, with Montgomerie on the opposing squad.
“I can’t wait to represent Team USA at the first World Champions Cup,” Andrade said. “Team competition brings such a unique level of excitement and energy to golf, and I’m eager to help Captain Furyk put together the right matchups to help our team take home the trophy.”
The World Champions Cup is an annual three-team, three-day competition that will be contested across nine-hole matches featuring team formats and singles play, with points being earned for each hole won in each of the event’s 24 matches. The team with the highest point total across all matches will be crowned the champion.
The Concession Golf Club was named the Best New Private Course in America by Golf Digest in 2006. The seed of what would become The Concession Golf Club was planted in 1969, with Jack Nicklaus’ famous gesture of conceding the final putt in the Ryder Cup to Tony Jacklin, clinching the first tie in the competition’s history. Decades later, the two golf legends paired up to design and create The Concession Golf Club — a championship, privately-owned golf facility with no houses lining the course. The course has hosted the PGA TOUR’s 2021 World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession, the 2015 Men’s and Women’s NCAA Division I championships and the biennial Concession Cup.
ABC and ESPN will serve as the exclusive television homes of the World Champions Cup. Coverage will air Thursday, December 7 and Friday, December 8, as well as Sunday, December 10. The event will also feature a unique pro-am on Saturday, December 9.
Additional information about the World Champions Cup is available at www.WorldChampionsCup.com, on Twitter (@WorldChampsCup) and on Instagram (@WorldChampionsCup).
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About PGA TOUR Champions
PGA TOUR Champions is a membership organization of professional golfers age 50 and older, including 35 members of the World Golf Hall of Fame. The Tour’s mission is to provide financial opportunities for its players, entertain and inspire its fans, deliver substantial value to its partners, create outlets for volunteers to give back and generate significant charitable and economic impact in tournament communities. Follow PGA TOUR Champions online at PGATOUR.com, on Facebook, on Twitter (@ChampionsTour), on Instagram (@pgatourchampions) and on TikTok (pgatourchampions).
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Media contact:
Greg Ball, BZA Public Relations on behalf of World Champions Cup
760-271-9183 / gregb@bzapr.com