Prediction: Omega Mission Hills World Cup

I don’t often make pre-tournament predictions of who I think will win a tournament (usually, I just have my “top picks”), but in the case of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup, I’m making an exception. Here are my predictions for the top two teams:

The winner: Team Ireland, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy. McIlroy is coming off yet another top-10 finish in the Dubai World Championship and a runner-up finish in the Race to Dubai, so the odds are already pretty good that he’ll put up a good showing in China this week. But after watching he and McDowell team up in the Vivendi Trophy a few months ago, I said that they would be the World Cup champions. They seem to be one of those teams that are nearly a “match made in heaven”, and while it’s still early, they could well be the next Ryder Cup “power pairing”, a la Olazabal/Ballesteros or Clarke/Westwood. I predict that Irish eyes will be smiling on Sunday.

The runner-up: Team England, Ross Fisher and Ian Poulter. Fisher and Poulter both have wins in the last few weeks: Fisher won the Volvo World Match Play Championship the same week that Poulter won the Barclays Singapore Open. They may be the most solid team in the field, in terms of each individual’s performance lately. Ireland gets my nod because they’re more established as a pairing, but I think England will keep it very close and very interesting down to the wire.

This week's congratulations

Barclays Singapore Open: Ian Poulter won the weather-plagued Barclays Singapore Open, vaulting him into the top 20 in the world rankings. When Poulter’s game is on, he can be nearly as brilliant as he is fashionable. Let’s see if this latest victory is a sign of greater things to come.

Volvo World Match Play: Ross Fisher won the Volvo World Match Play, soundly defeating Anthony Kim 4&3. Fisher joins fellow Englishman Poulter in the world’s top 20 in a year that saw him lead the combined scoring stat in this year’s majors. It would not be surprising to see one, if not both, of this week’s European Tour winners take home major trophies in 2010.