What is the Skechers World Champions Cup? Format, teams, players, course explained

Skechers World Champions Cup returns for a second time in December. Get the lowdown on the teams, the players, the golf course and more.

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First played in 2023, the World Champions Cup wasn't contested a year ago but it's back with a new title sponsor sponsor and a new venue.
This will be the second playing of the tournament and if you like Ryder Cup/Presidents Cup-themed competition with match play formats consisting of big names from the world of golf, then this event might just be your thing.

What is the Skechers World Champions Cup?
While the Ryder Cup is the U.S. vs. Europe and the Presidents Cup is the U.S. vs. a team of international players, the Skechers World Champions Cup is a blend, with teams from the U.S., Europe and Internationals. This is a way to incorporate the best golfers from their generation together without leaving any nation or region on the sidelines. Skechers was announced as title sponsor in August.
What are the teams for the Skechers World Champions Cup?
Each of the three teams competing in the event is made up of six players, including a playing captain and a vice captain serving in a non-playing role.
The captains are Jim Furyk (Team USA), Mike Weir (Team International) and Darren Clarke (Europe).
Furyk's vice captains will be Steve Flesch and Billy Andrade. Weir's vice captains will be Ricardo Gonzalez (Argentina) and Charlie Wi (South Korea). Clarke will have with him Soren Kjeldsen (Denmark) and Jesper Parnevik (Sweden) .
The players are the U.S. team will be Stewart Cink, Jerry Kelly, Justin Leonard, Steve Stricker and Jason Caron.
The International team is made up of Steven Alker (New Zealand), Angel Cabrera (Argentina), K.J. Choi (South Korea) and Y.E. Yang (South Korea) and Mark Hensby (Australia).
The European squad is Thomas Bjorn (Denmark), Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spain), Bernhard Langer (Germany), Colin Montgomerie (Scotland) and Alex Cejka (Germany).
The U.S. team won the inaugural Cup in 2023.
Where are they playing the 2025 Skechers World Champions Cup?
The final PGA Tour Champions event of 2025 will be Dec. 4-7 at Feather Sound Country Club in Clearwater, Florida. Held in Bradenton two years ago, the event was scrapped in 2024 due to weather concerns. Now it's full steam ahead for Feather Sound, a par-72, 7,332-yard private course. Considered one of the most challenging layouts in the Tampa Bay area, it's centrally located between Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Tampa. Last year, Feather Sound hosted the Aramco Team Series, sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.
What are the formats for the Skechers World Champions Cup?
The Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup has foursomes, fourballs and singles. Now, get ready for Scotch sixsomes, sixballs and singles.
The Skechers World Champions Cup will be contested across 24 nine-hole groupings featuring team and singles play.
Here's the breakdown of the formats from the official tournament website:
In Scotch sixsome, both players in each two-man team will tee off on every hole. One ball is chosen and then alternate strokes are then played to complete the hole. The team with the lowest score on each hole will receive two points. The team with the second lowest score on a hole will receive one point. The team with the highest score will receive no points. Whenever teams finish with the same score on a hole, those teams will be awarded the same number of points.
In sixball, each member of a two-man team plays his own ball, so six golf balls are in play on every hole. Each team counts the lowest of its two scores on each hole, and the team with the lowest score on each hole will receive two points. The team with the second lowest score on a hole will receive one point. The team with the highest score will receive no points. Whenever teams finish with the same score on a hole, those teams will be awarded the same number of points.
In singles, each grouping features one player from each team. The player with the lowest score on each hole will receive two points. The player with the second lowest score on a hole will receive one point. The player with the highest score will receive no points. Whenever players finish with the same score on a hole, those teams will be awarded the same number of points.
What are they saying about the Skechers World Champions Cup?
“The Skechers World Champions Cup supporting Shriners Children's featured incredible competition in its first year, and it was obvious from Day 1 how badly the players wanted to win and how they embraced the team format,” said Peter Jacobsen, Tournament Chairman for the Skechers World Champions Cup supporting Shriners Children’s. “Building on the momentum from the inaugural event, Skechers, Shriners Children’s and Feather Sound are ideal partners to elevate the event and truly solidify it as a must-see global golf tournament.”
"Yeah, yeah, fun event, I played two years ago," said Alker. "Disappointing we didn't have it last year, obviously with the hurricanes down there and the season was bad. I'm looking forward to it because never get a chance to do that sort of thing. The points system, the three teams, it gets, it's amazing. It gets complicated and it's fun. ... it's just a fun event. It's great for TV, too.
"I played a Dunhill Cup way back in 1997. It was a long time ago. And then I played a couple of teams events in China on the OneAsia Tour, played some events out there as well. Yeah, it's just a different vibe, right, than just playing for yourself. It's always nice, a nice change."
"I think match play is a great thing, first of all. Even though it's not by definition match play, it's a three-way kind of a combination match thing. It's an intriguing format and it's great personalities and it will be tight competition. It's only nine hole matches. I think it's going to be awesome," said Cink. "I haven't played on a team event myself in about 15 years, so going to be a blast to do it and I look forward to the month of December. We've got another team event, the PNC Challenge, coming up. It's going to be a really nice break from this kind of golf, which I love, and get to play with some of my best friends and family members coming up."
Where to watch, follow the 2025 Skechers World Champions Cup
ESPN will carry the coverage Thursday, Dec. 4 and Friday, Dec. 5, and then there's a break in the competition with just a pro-am set for Saturday, Dec. 6. On Sunday, the action moves to network TV as ABC picks up the final-round coverage on Sunday, Dec. 7.
Thursday, Dec. 4
Round 1, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Round 1, 12 p.m. ET to 4 p.m. ET, ESPN
Friday, Dec. 5
Round 2, 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET, ESPN+
Round 2, 12 p.m. ET to 4 p.m. ET, ESPN
Sunday, Dec. 7
Round 3, 9 a.m. ET to 12:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
Round 3, 1 p.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET, ABC
What is the prize money at the 2025 Skechers World Champions Cup?
There is a total purse of $1.35 million. Each member of the winning team will take home $100,000. Second-place team members will get $75,000 while third-place is worth $50,000 per player.
Golfweek's Adam Schupak contributed to this article.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: What is the Skechers World Champions Cup? Format, teams explained