Oct. 27, 2004 – Major Champions Sandy Lyle and Tom Kite join John Chillas, Rodger Davis, Fred Funk and Peter Senior in completing the teams for the fourth annual UBS Cup, a $3 million, Ryder Cup-style event to be played on The Kiawah Island Club’s Cassique golf course on Kiawah Island, South Carolina from November 18-21.
Chillas, Davis, Lyle and Senior will team up with Rest of the World playing Captain Gary Player, European Ryder Cup Captain Bernhard Langer, former European Ryder Cup Captain Sam Torrance, Barry Lane, Carl Mason, Mark McNulty, Colin Montgomerie and Ian Woosnam.
Funk and Kite join Captain Arnold Palmer’s US team, which also includes Fred Couples, Ray Floyd, Jay Haas, Scott Hoch, Hale Irwin, Mark O’Meara, Craig Stadler, Curtis Strange and US Ryder Cup Captain Hal Sutton. The two 12-man teams will compete in Ryder Cup style match over three days of competition.
Lyle, 46, won the Open Golf Championship in 1985 and the Masters Tournament in 1988, when he became the first British winner of the Green Jacket. He has won 28 titles worldwide, including five on the PGA Tour and topped the Volvo Order of Merit three times. He was a member of five consecutive European Ryder Cup Teams from 1979-87 and will be making his UBS Cup debut.
Chillas, 53, has made a huge impact since joining the European Seniors Tour in 2001. He secured the final spot on the 2004 Rest of the World team with a victory in the season-ending Estoril Seniors Tour Championship to complete a marvelous year which saw him finish second on five occasions, four of them in his past six tournaments. He turned pro in 1971 and has won twice since joining the European Seniors Tour.
Davis, 53, has captured 30 international victories and was considered one of the most popular and colorful players on both The European Tour and Australasian Tour prior to joining the Champions Tour in 2001. The Australian posted his first US win last year at the Toshiba Senior Classic. He has three top ten finishes this year. He is 1-3-2 in two previous UBS Cup appearances.
Senior, 45, has won on three continents. A winner of 26 titles worldwide, he has posted victories in his native Australia, Europe and Japan. His best season was 1989, when he won four titles, including the Australian PGA Championship and the Australian Open. He also won the Australian Masters in 1991 and 1995.
Funk, enjoying great success at age 48, notched the sixth victory of his PGA Tour career last month at the Southern Farm Bureau Classic. He also had a tie for second and tie for third among six top ten finishes this year. He was a member of the US Ryder Cup Team this year after playing on the U.S. Presidents Cup Team last year. He is 1-1-1 in one previous UBS Cup appearance.
Kite, 54, won the US Open Championship in 1992, one of 19 PGA TOUR career victories. He has won seven times on the Champions Tour, including once this year. He has had six top three finishes on the Champions Tour this year and13 top tens in total. He was a member of seven US Ryder Cup Teams and captained the 1997 squad. He is 1-2 in one previous UBS Cup appearance.
Each UBS Cup team consists of six players age 40-49 and six players 50 and over. The European Seniors Tour and the PGA Tour sanction the event.
Cassique, which opened in 2000, was designed by five-time Open Champion Tom Watson. The layout, reminiscent of classic links courses, features undulating dune land terrain, with dramatic mounding, stacked sod pot bunkers and large, rolling greens. The back nine incorporates thick patches of oaks and expansive tidal marshes. Named after a 17th century Kiawah Indian chief, the course sits near the entrance to Kiawah Island where the Kiawah River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
Players from both teams will be staying at The Sanctuary at Kiawah Island, the new ultra-luxurious, oceanfront resort and spa, which opened August 20th, 2004. The Sanctuary is the newest addition to the already renowned Kiawah Island Golf Resort.
The United States won the inaugural UBS Cup in 2001, held on The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, by a score of 12 ½ - 11 ½. The US then retained the trophy with a 14 ½ - 9 ½, victory in 2002 on the Seaside Course at Sea Island, Georgia, and a 12-12 draw in 2003, again at Sea Island.
The opening ceremony will be held on Thursday, November 18 in the morning prior to the pro-am. The competition begins with six foursome matches on Friday, November 19, six-four ball matches on Saturday, November 20 and the twelve single matches will conclude play on Sunday, November 21.
Tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis and can be purchased by calling 001 866-238-6596. Tickets are also available online through the UBS website at www.ubs.com/golfcup
The Golf Channel, which is viewed in 62 million homes, will provide worldwide coverage of the UBS Cup while Sky TV will air the matches live in the United Kingdom each night from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.
