Melbourne: As players who are competing in next week’s ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf continued to shine with victories on three different Tours by Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, India’s SSP Chawrasia and Sweden’s Alex Noren, tournament officials also announced changes to the field including the withdrawal of England’s Danny Willett and Welsh player Jamie Donaldson.

The ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf will bring together the world’s top golfers to compete at Kingston Heath Golf Club from November 24 to 27 in one of golf’s only global team events, with 28 two-man teams representing their countries.

There is arguably no player on the planet in better form than Matsuyama. With his seven-stroke victory at the Japan Golf Tour’s Mitsui Sumitomo VISA Taiheiyo Masters on Sunday, Matsuyama now has three international victories in his last four starts.

Before winning last weekend, the 24-year-old became the first Asian player to win a World Golf Championships event with his victory in Shanghai at the HSBC Champions in late October. Two weeks prior, Matsuyama won the Japan Open by three strokes.

Matsuyama will be paired with fellow Japanese star Ryo Ishikawa. Together, the two are quickly becoming one of the favourites to take home the World Cup in the 58th edition of the historic event.

“I’m really looking forward to the World Cup of Golf. Anytime you get the opportunity to represent your country, it’s a great honour. I’m looking forward to playing well and hopefully we can team together for a victory,” Matsuyama said.

Another of the world’s hottest players, Noren posted a closing 63 to win the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player by six shots and claim his fourth European Tour victory of the season. The Swede carded an eagle, eight birdies and a solitary bogey to finish the week at 14-under-par and move to third in the Race to Dubai Rankings. Noren has also won the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, the Omega European Masters and the British Masters supported by Sky Sports this year on the European Tour. He will team up with David Lingmerth to represent Sweden at the World Cup of Golf.

On the Asian Tour, Chawrasia won his fourth career victory on the second playoff hole at the Resorts World Manila Masters. The win at the richest golf tournament in the Philippines was a first for the 38-year-old outside his native India, and was one to remember after he birdied the 18th playoff hole twice to clinch victory over Sam Chien of the United States and Malaysia’s Nicholas Fung. Chawrasia will team up with Chikkarangappa S. to represent India.

“I'm looking forward to getting a week’s rest back home before flying to Melbourne for the World Cup of Golf. The game’s been good and the season’s been nothing short of great too, having won my home open earlier this year,” he said. “This win will give me a boost in confidence and shape my game up nicely for the World Cup of Golf in two weeks’ time.”

In addition to the strong play of the players noted above, tournament officials announced that England’s Willett has chosen to withdraw from the World Cup of Golf. His WD means that Justin Rose, the next highest-ranked player from England in the Official World Golf Ranking from the original standings used the week after the U.S. PGA Championship, was invited.

Rose, who is recovering from back surgery, opted not to play. The next player from England, Chris Wood, committed to the event. Wood was then able to select the partner of his choice, choosing Andy Sullivan which means that Lee Westwood no longer had a spot in this year’s event.

Wood is playing in the event for the second time in his career, while Sullivan will be making his debut for England. Both players made their Ryder Cup debuts at Hazeltine National in September, and also represented Europe in the EurAsia Cup at the start of the year. Wood is a three-time winner on the European Tour, including the BMW PGA Championship. Sullivan is also a three-time winner on the European Tour with three victories in 2015.

In addition to the changes for England, Donaldson recently withdrew from the Wales team with Bradley Dredge selecting Stuart Manley to be his partner. Below is the updated field for the upcoming ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf.

Name                                Country       Partner

Rickie Fowler                    USA               Jimmy Walker

Adam Scott                        AUS               Marc Leishman

Hideki Matsuyama            JPN               Ryo Ishikawa          

Chris Wood                       ENG              Andy Sullivan          

Russell Knox                      SCO              Duncan Stewart     

Rafa Cabrera Bello           ESP               Jon Rahm    

Shane Lowry                      IRL                Graeme McDowell

Byeong Hun An                 KOR              K.T. Kim

Thongchai Jaidee              THA              Kiradech Aphibarnrat

Soren Kjeldsen                  DEN              Thorbjorn Olesen

Danny Lee                         NZL               Ryan Fox

Alex Noren                        SWE              David Lingmerth

Francesco Molinari           ITA                Matteo Manassero

Bernd Wiesberger            AUT              Martin Wiegele

Thomas Pieters                 BEL               Nicolas Colsaerts

Joost Luiten                       NED              Darius van Driel

Jaco Van Zyl                      RSA               George Coetzee

Jhonattan Vegas                VEN              Julio Vegas

Victor Dubuisson               FRA               Romain Langasque

Bradley Dredge                 WAL              Stuart Manley

Alex Cejka                         GER              Stephan Jaeger

Ricardo Gouveia               POR              Jose-Filipe Lima

David Hearn                      CAN              Adam Hadwin

Ashun Wu                          CHN              Haotong Li

Miguel Tabuena                PHI                Angelo Que

Cheng Tsung Pan              TPE               Chan Shih-chang

SSP Chawrasia                   IND               Chikarangappa S.

Danny Chia                        MAS              Nicholas Fung