Four Tours World Championship Explained
The Four Tours World Championship was an annual professional golf tournament that was played from 1985 to 1991. It was played between teams representing the four main professional tours: the American PGA Tour, the PGA European Tour, the PGA Tour of Australasia and the Japan Golf Tour. In 1985 and 1986 it was called the Nissan Cup, in 1987 and 1988 it was called the Kirin Cup while from 1989 to 1991 it was called the Asahi Glass Four Tours World Championship.[1]
Each team played the other three teams in the group stage. The leading two teams then played a final, with the other two teams playing for third and fourth places. There were six players on each team. Each match consisted of six singles matches, decided by medal match play over 18 holes.
Winners
Team
| Year | Venue | Winners | Points | Runner-up | Points | Third | Fourth | Total
purse ($) | Winner's
share ($) |
|---|
| Asahi Glass Four Tours World Championship |
|---|
| 1991 | | Europe | 8 | Australasia | 4 | Japan | United States | 1,150,000 | 480,000 |
| 1990 | | Australasia | – | United States | – | Europe | Japan | 1,150,000 | 480,000 |
| 1989 | | United States | 6 | Europe | 6 | Japan | Australasia | 1,030,000 | 390,000 |
| Kirin Cup |
|---|
| 1988 | Kapalua Resort, Bay course | United States | 8 | Europe | 4 | Australasia | Japan | 1,000,000 | 360,000 |
| 1987 | | United States | 10 | Europe | 2 | Australasia | Japan | 950,000 | 360,000 |
| Nissan Cup |
|---|
| 1986 | | Japan | 8 | Europe | 4 | Australasia | United States | 900,000 | 300,000 |
| 1985 | Kapalua Resort, Bay course | United States | 10 | Europe | 2 | Japan | Australasia | 750,000 | 300,000 | |
Two points were awarded for a win, one point for a halved match. In 1989 United States won the championship with an aggregate score of 404 to Europe's 416. In 1990 the final was cancelled because of rain. Both teams had scored 20 points in the three group matches which meant that the result was decided on aggregate scores. Wayne Levi did not complete his first match because of an injury and hence the United States score was uncountable and Australasia were declared the winners.
Individual Trophy
Summary
| Team | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
|---|
| United States | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Europe | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Australasia | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Japan | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
1985
Sandy Lyle won the individual event with a score of 267 for his four rounds, three ahead of Curtis Strange
Source: [2] [3] [4]
Teams
The teams were:
- United States: Raymond Floyd (captain), Mark O'Meara, Corey Pavin, Calvin Peete, Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins
- Europe: Bernhard Langer (captain), Gordon Brand Jnr, Howard Clark, Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance, Ian Woosnam
- Japan: Isao Aoki, Kikuo Arai, Shinsaku Maeda, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Naomichi Ozaki, Tateo Ozaki
- Australasia: Ian Baker-Finch, Wayne Grady, David Graham, Brian Jones, Graham Marsh, Greg Norman
Seve Ballesteros was on the original European team but withdrew and was replaced by Ian Woosnam
1986
Tsuneyuki Nakajima won the individual event with a score of 270 for his four rounds, two ahead of Bernhard Langer.
Source: [5]
Teams
The teams were:
- United States: John Mahaffey, Calvin Peete, Dan Pohl, Payne Stewart, Hal Sutton, Bob Tway
- Europe: Bernhard Langer (captain), Gordon J. Brand, Howard Clark, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Ian Woosnam
- Japan: Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Masashi Ozaki, Naomichi Ozaki, Tateo Ozaki, Koichi Suzuki, Nobumitsu Yuhara
- Australasia: Ian Baker-Finch, Rodger Davis, David Graham, Brian Jones, Graham Marsh, Greg Norman
1987
Teams
The teams were:
- United States: Mark Calcavecchia, Tom Kite, Dan Pohl, Scott Simpson, Payne Stewart, Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins
- Europe: Bernhard Langer (captain), Ken Brown, Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, José María Olazábal, Ian Woosnam
- Japan: Isao Aoki, Hajime Meshiai, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Tōru Nakamura, Masashi Ozaki, Tateo Ozaki
- Australasia: Ian Baker-Finch, Rodger Davis, Brian Jones, Graham Marsh, Greg Norman, Peter Senior
1988
Teams
The teams were:
- United States: Chip Beck, Ben Crenshaw, Steve Pate, Mike Reid, Joey Sindelar, Curtis Strange
- Europe: Gordon Brand Jnr, Anders Forsbrand, Mark James, Mark Mouland, Ronan Rafferty, José Rivero
- Japan: Isao Aoki, Hiroshi Makino, Masahiro Kuramoto, Tsuneyuki Nakajima, Yoshimi Niizeki, Nobuo Serizawa
- Australasia: Ian Baker-Finch, Rodger Davis, Brian Jones, Graham Marsh, Craig Parry, Peter Senior
1989
Teams
The teams were:
- United States: Chip Beck, Mark Calcavecchia, Ken Green, Tom Kite, Payne Stewart, Curtis Strange
- Europe: Bernhard Langer (captain), Gordon Brand Jnr, Mark James, José María Olazábal, Ronan Rafferty, Ian Woosnam
- Japan: Tōru Nakamura, Masashi Ozaki, Naomichi Ozaki, Tateo Ozaki, Koichi Suzuki, Katsunari Takahashi
- Australasia: Ian Baker-Finch, Wayne Grady, Brian Jones, Greg Norman, Craig Parry, Peter Senior
1990
Teams
The teams were:
- United States: Mark Calcavecchia, Fred Couples, Wayne Levi, Jodie Mudd, Tim Simpson, Payne Stewart
- Europe: Nick Faldo (captain), David Feherty, Mark James, Bernhard Langer, Ronan Rafferty, Ian Woosnam
- Japan: Saburo Fujiki, Hideki Kase, Masahiro Kuramoto, Naomichi Ozaki, Nobuo Serizawa, Noboru Sugai
- Australasia: Ian Baker-Finch, Rodger Davis, Wayne Grady, Brian Jones, Craig Parry, Peter Senior
1991
Teams
The teams were:
- United States: Fred Couples, Jim Gallagher Jr., Billy Mayfair, Tom Purtzer, Bob Tway, Lanny Wadkins
- Europe: Sam Torrance (captain), Paul Broadhurst, David Feherty, Colin Montgomerie, Ronan Rafferty, Steven Richardson
- Japan: Yoshinori Kaneko, Hideki Kase, Ryoken Kawagishi, Hiroshi Makino, Noboru Sugai, Tsukasa Watanabe
- Australasia: Ian Baker-Finch, Rodger Davis, Mike Harwood, Roger Mackay, Graham Marsh, Craig Parry
Notes and References
- Web site: Past Champions – Former Events – Four Tours Championship . European Tour . https://web.archive.org/web/20140714113935/http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/news/newsid=186563.html . 14 July 2014.
- News: The Times . 12 October 1985 . 26 . Golf – Cup teams.
- News: The Times . 6 November 1985 . 23 . Golf – Absent Ballesteros casts a shadow on team cup event.
- News: Lyle brightens the gloom . . 11 November 1985 . 7.
- News: Japan take all the bows . . 10 November 1986 . 10.
Curtis Strange