The World Cup of Golf in Australia this week sees 28 two-man teams competing over 72 holes of strokeplay in a mixed format in which rounds one and three will be foursomes and the remainder fourball better ball.
Kingston Golf Course in Melbourne hosted the last tournament in 2013 when Jason Day and Adam Scott beat up the field by 10 shots. Day decided against defending the title this year, so 5/1 favourites Scott and Marc Leishman hold Australian hopes of retaining the trophy.
Japan (Hideki Katsuyama and Ryo Ishikawa) are second favourites at 8/1, with the USA (Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker) next at 17/2, followed by Spain at 10/1 (Rafael Cabrera-Bello and PGA Tour player Jon Rahm).
The sandbelt course is fast, firm and demands accuracy which gives 25/1 shots Italy a great chance of winning for the second time in four attempts. No-one has been more accurate off the tee than Francesco Molinari on the European Tour this season and he also tops the stats in putting per greens in regulation which combined make him a formidable opponent.
His playing partner Matteo Manassero has improved his driving over the last two years to reach 60 per cent of fairways hit – 66th in the overall table. Francesco and brother Edoardo won this tournament in China seven years ago and Italy are more than capable of doing so again.
Denmark are our next best bet at 18/1. Soren Kjeldsen is inside the top 20 for accuracy and finished fourth in the DP World Tour Championship last week, plus he has also sewn up six other top 10s this season. His playing partner Thorbjorn Olesen may not be as accurate but he won the Turkish Airlines Open three weeks ago and together they have a great chance.
Our final recommendation is for 100/1 outsiders Wales to repeat their dramatic 2005 triumph in Portugal when Bradley Dredge and Stephen Dodd pipped England and Sweden by two shots.
Dredge has had one of his best seasons on the European Tour which included runners-up spots in Denmark and Ireland, plus top 10s in Qatar and China. Dredge teams up with Stuart Manley, who ranks inside the top 30 for accuracy from the tee and is buoyed by retaining his European Tour card with a top-25 finish at the final qualifying stage in Catalunya.
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