US Open champions Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell will try to cap Irish golf's greatest period by winning the US$7.5 million Omega Mission Hills World Cup in November.
Organisers trumpeted the glamour pairing yesterday, along with Masters winner Charl Schwartzel and another reigning major champion, Martin Kaymer, for the November 24-27 event, which has been moved from the Mission Hills complex in Shenzhen to its new resort on Hainan Island.
No country is hotter than Ireland in golf at the moment. Since Irishman Padraig Harrington's breakout four years ago when he won the 2007 British Open and then retained it the following year and added the 2008 US PGA Championship for good measure, Irish golf has exploded thanks to three Northern Irishmen.
McDowell stunned the Americans on their home soil at the US Open in 2010, McIlroy stole that crown in record style in June and then Darren Clarke joined the party in a victory for the fortysomethings at the British Open last month.
By a strange quirk in Ireland's sporting history, golf is an all-Ireland team, while many other sports are two separate teams.
The two 'Macs' came so close to winning the 2009 World Cup, losing by a stroke to Italy's Molinari brothers - Edoardo and Francesco. Unlike many of the game's stars, McDowell and McIlroy embraced the World Cup and urged more countries to send their best players.
There was no surprise yesterday when McIlroy, who is ranked fifth in the world, picked close friend and Ryder Cup hero McDowell (12th) as his partner for the event, which was changed to biennial so it would not clash with golf in the Olympics.
