World Cup of Golf: Ranking the 28 Teams
I’ll be honest, ranking Nos. 28-20 was a bit of a doozy. I’m not sure how 28 was determined as the proper number for teams, but take a look at golf’s elite and you aren’t seeing quite that many different flags. I fully believe each country has the right to be here this week and many were represented at the Rio Olympics, too. With that said, I couldn’t tell you the first thing about the likes of Angelo Que or Chikkarangapa S so it’s a bit of guessing game as to how these teams from the smaller golf nations will separate themselves this week.
No. 28 — Malaysia: Danny Chia (world No. 270) and Nicholas Fung (320)
No. 27 — Phillipines: Miguel Tabuena (153) and Angelo Que (403)
For a golfer without much fanfare like Miguel Tabuena, the 22-year-old has had quite the 2016. January brought a final-hour sponsor’s exemption into the PGA Tour’s Sony Open (missed cut). A month later he split runner-up honors at the European Tour’s Maybank Championship Malaysia. Then in the summer he open qualified for the US Open (missed cut) and used his high standing among Filipino golfers to qualify for the Olympics and now the World Cup. It’d be the biggest surprise of them all if he and Que contend this week, but oh, the perks of being the top golfer in a nation like this.
No. 26 — India: SSP Chawrasia (220) and Chikkarangapa S (321)
No. 25 — Wales: Bradley Dredge (89) and Stuart Manley (873)
No. 24 — Portugal: Ricardo Gouveia (121) and José-Filipe Lima (282)
No. 23 — Germany: Alex Cejka (139) and Stephan Jaeger (466)
No. 22 — Chinese Taipei: Chan Shih-chang (189) and C.T. Pan (215)
No. 21 — Venezuela: Jhonattan Vegas (74) and Julio Vegas (1872)
They’re no Molinari brothers of years past, but the brothers’ Vegas could be a dark horse team to watch this week. Both graduates of the University of Texas (though they never played there at the same time), Jhonattan went with his brother who is grinding away on the PGA Tour Latinoamérica. After Jhonattan, there’s not much in the way of talent to choose from so maybe his recent strong play (he won the RBC Canadian Open in July) and a little brotherly love could make a difference this week.
No. 20 — Austria: Bernd Wiesberger (46) and Martin Wiegele (1315)