McDowell and McIlroy set out on new Mission

TWO years after a one-shot defeat to Italian brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari, Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy return to Mission Hills in China bidding to capture the World Cup of Golf.

Harry Bradshaw and Christy O’Connor Snr first lifted the title for Ireland in Mexico City (1958) before Pádraig Harrington and Paul McGinley triumphed at Kiawah Island in 1987.

The format of the biannual event has changed with time and it is now a team event with a series of fourballs, foursomes and scotch foursomes.