Date: October 17, 2008
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Green and Jones team up

Richard Green and Brendan Jones will attempt to capture the Omega World Cup for Australia for the first time in more than 20 years when the tournament tees off in China next month. Australia has won the World Cup on four previous occasions – the last coming in 1989 when Queenslander Wayne Grady and New South Welshman Peter Fowler lifted the trophy in Spain. This time the Aussies will take on 27 other teams at the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills from November 27-30 for a share of the $5.5 million prize pool. The host nation will be represented by reigning Asian Tour No.1 Liang Wen-chong and Zhang Lian-wei. Liang, who took out the Indian Open last weekend, is hoping to improve on China&aposs joint 11th place in last year&aposs event. New Zealand will be represented by David Smail and Mark Brown, who are searching for their country&aposs first World Cup title after coming so close in 2001. On that occasion, Smail – in his debut – and Michael Campbell finished second in a play-off alongside Denmark and the US to South Africa&aposs Ernie Els and Retief Goosen. 2003 Open champion Ben Curtis and Brandt Snedeker will represent the United States for the first time as both players look to go one better than the US team of last year when Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum finished runners-up to Scotland. “I am very excited to be playing with Ben and representing our country in this event,” Snedeker said. “In our sport you do not get the opportunity too many times to compete for your country and this is going to be a thrill for me. I look forward to it and hope we can represent the United States well.” “I was disappointed I did not make this year&aposs Ryder Cup team, and this opportunity will provide a good alternative this year. I think it will also be a good experience as I work hard to reach my goal of making the next Ryder Cup team and perhaps the Presidents Cup team next year.” Colin Montgomerie and Alastair Forsyth will lead defending champion Scotland. But they&aposll all have to catch top seeds Sweden, who will be represented by Henrik Stenson and the in-form Robert Karlsson, the current European Tour No.1 and winner of his last two events. The 28 nations were finalised following last week&aposs Venezuela Playa Grande Nations Cup where Guatemala&aposs Alejandro Villavicencio and Pablo Acuna secured victory over Mexico and Venezuela with all three teams securing a ticket for China. The 28 nations and teams who will compete in the 2008 Omega Mission Hills World Cup are: Australia (Richard Green, Brendan Jones) Canada (Wes Heffernan, Graham DeLaet) Chile (Felipe Aquilar, Mark Tullo) China (Liang Wen-chong, Zhang Lian-wei) Chinese Taipei (Lin Wen-tang, Lu Wen-teh) Denmark (S ren Hansen, Anders Hansen) England (Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher) Finland (Roope Kakko, Mikko Korhonen) France (Gregory Havret, Gregory Bourdy) Germany (Martin Kaymer, Alex Cejka) Guatemala (Pablo Acuna, Alejandro Villavicencio) India (Jeev M Singh, Jyoti Randhawa) Ireland (Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley) Italy (Francesco, Edoardo Molinari) Japan (Ryuji Imada, Toru Taniguchi) Korea (Bae Sang-moon, Kim Hyung-tae) Mexico (Oscar Serna, Daniel De Le n) New Zealand (Mark Brown, David Smail) Philippines (Angelo Que and Mars Pucay) Portugal (Tiago Cruz, Ricardo Santos) Scotland (Alastair Forysth, Colin Montgomerie) South Africa (Rory Sabbatini, Richard Sterne) Spain (Miguel Angel Jimenez, Pablo Larrazabal) Sweden (Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson) Thailand (Prayad Marksaeng, Thongchai Jaidee) USA (Ben Curtis, Brandt Snedeker) Wales (Bradley Dredge, Richard Johnson)