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Cape Town - South African-born golfer Peter Karmis will represent Greece at the World Cup of Golf at the Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne this week.
In July, Sport24 confirmed that Karmis had made a successful application to represent Greece and would no longer play under the South African flag.
Karmis, born in Springbok in the Northern Cape, is a five-time winner on the Sunshine Tour and also won the Singapore Classic on the Asian Tour in 2010.
The 37-year-old, who has a Greek father, is currently ranked 248th on the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR).
Karmis is the highest-ranked Greek golfer and will partner Alexander Tranacher - ranked 2 012th - in Melbourne.
"Changing my nationality has been on my mind for a very long time," Karmis told the PGA Tour website.
"I was a little hesitant to do so until my father convinced me to do it back in June 2018. I am very grateful that he did. My only regret is that I never did it earlier."
The switch immediately improved Karmis' chances to not only qualify for the World Cup of Golf but also the Olympics in 2020.
"I am extremely excited to represent Greece," said Karmis.
"What an honour and privilege! Even simply having the Greek flag next to my name in normal tour events has been very special. To represent Greece in the World Cup is over the top exciting."
Meanwhile, the South African contingent will be Dylan Frittelli and Erik van Rooyen. Their inclusion follows the withdrawal last week of Branden Grace and Charl Schwartzel.
South Africa boasts a proud history in the World Cup of Golf, having secured five team titles.
Other Africans in the field are the duo representing Zimbabwe namely, Scott Vincent and Benjamin Follett-Smith.
The World Cup of Golf will feature two-players from the top 28 nations on the world golf rankings in Melbourne from Thursday.
The 59th staging of the event will see the 56-player field vie for the largest prize money purse in Australian golf, with $7 million on offer.
