The World Super 6 Tournament takes place in Perth, Australia, in February each year and is a unique golf event with a format like no other. But how does the format work and what makes it so special?
The World Super 6 was introduced to golf in 2017 for the first time as a trial to see if a shorter, more attractive version of the game could follow in the successful footprints of the likes of Sevens Rugby or Twenty20 cricket.
The event—which is co-sanctioned by the European Tour, PGA of Australia and Asian Tour—was an instant hit. Last year, Australian Brett Rumford walked away with the winner’s prize on home soil as he triumphed at Lake Karrinyup Country Club in western Australia. It is back for another year at the same venue; Rumford will be back to defend his title from February 8-11.
What is World Super 6 Tournament format?
How does it differ from a standard 72-hole event and how is the winner decided?
For starters, the World Super 6 Tournament is a mixture of stroke play and match play. Instead of all 72 holes being played over the stroke play format associated with other tour events, it is only the first 54 that are played traditionally in the World Super 6. That’s because the final round moves on to match play and players go head to head over six holes—hence the name.
During the opening three days, there is little difference, all players compete for two rounds before the cut is taken into effect. The leading 65 and ties on the leader board progress to the weekend. From there, however, they have just one more round to force their way into the top 24 positions if they are to remain in contention on Sunday when the format switches to match play.
After 54 holes, the field is reduced to 24. If there are ties, those on the same score play in a sudden-death shootout to decide who makes it into the knockout match play.
The top eight on the leader board—decided on countback if there are ties—after 54 holes are given top seedings and move into the second round of the match play. The remaining 16 qualifiers then go head-to-head in the first round.
The eight winners then move forward to face the top eight seeds in the Round of 16. The Quarter Final, Semi-Final and Final are all also staged over six holes on the final day of the tournament before the winner is crowned.
Any matches tied after the six holes head to a new “Shootout Hole” at Lake Karrinyup CC, which uses the 18th green but has a new tee located just 90 meters away. If any match remains undecided, the players will continue playing until a result is reached.
The 2018 World Super 6 Tournament will feature Rumford, Jason Scrivener and Wade Ormsby—who both made the match play stage last year—as well as Lee Westwood, 2016 Masters champion Danny Willett, Andrew “Beef” Johnston and Thorbjørn Olesen.