The1998 Presidents Cup was held 11–13 December inAustralia at theRoyal Melbourne Golf Club inBlack Rock,Victoria, a suburb southeast ofMelbourne. The International team won the competition by a margin of 201⁄2–111⁄2. This was the first time the International team won the competition, and through2022, is their sole victory. The honorary chairman was Australian Prime MinisterJohn Howard. It was the thirdPresidents Cup competition and the first held outside the United States. The competition returned to Royal Melbourne in2011 and2019
Both teams had 12 players plus a non-playing captain. On the first and second day foursomes were played in the morning and four-ball was played in the afternoon. On the third day only singles were played.
Masashi "Jumbo" Ozaki, who was aged 51, decided not to play in the event. He finished fourth in the International team rankings. This meant that his brother,Naomichi "Joe" Ozaki, who finished 11th in the rankings, made the team automatically.Hal Sutton finished 8th in the United States rankings but withdrew in early December following the death of his father-in-law. He was replaced byLee Janzen who was the highest ranked player not already in the team.
Australia
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Fiji
Paraguay
Japan
New Zealand
United States team