Cream rises as Sweden wins World Cup

November 30, 6:46 AMGolf ExaminerDave Seanor

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Golf Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Stenson and Karlsson hoist the World Cup.

Shenzhen, China – If nothing else, the Omega Mission Hills World Cup validated the Official World Golf Ranking.

Sweden won going away, thanks to fielding the two highest ranked players among the 56 who represented their respective countries in the event’s 54^th renewal. Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson, No. 6 and No. 12 in the OWGR, respectively, put on a shotmaking clinic Nov. 30, carding a dazzling 9-under-par 63 in closing foursomes.  That gave them a four-round total of 27 under par, three shots clear of runner-up Spain.

“Definitely, it means very much to win for the country,” Karlsson said of Sweden’s second World Cup victory (Per-Ulrik Johansson and Anders Forsbrand won in 1991 in Rome). “This has always been a big event in Sweden.”

Stenson said after watching Germany (opening 62), Spain (63) and Australia (63) “going hot” in each of the first three rounds, he and Karlsson figured the final day would be their turn. They gained a shot on the leaders with an opening birdie, then birdied all five par 5s on the Olazabal Course.

“Spain had a fantastic first three days. They played really, really well,” Karlsson said. “Obviously for us it was to try to put a bit of pressure on them and see if they could stay up there.”

Rounds 1 and 3 of the World Cup are contested using the four-balls (better ball) format. Rounds 2 and 4 are foursomes (alternate shot). Stenson said he and Karlsson drew on their experience from the last two Ryder Cups, where they posted a combined 1-4-5 record in those formats. 

“We had a great fourball together at Valhalla (a Day 2 half vs. Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan),” Stenson said. “A team event is good fun. I think it sort of brings out the best of both players. You can be there to cover up for each other, and then keep fighting hard for your partner. It all worked out great.”

The Swedes said their celebration would be muted since they had to catch separate evening flights to South Africa for the Alfred Dunhill Championship. Spain, meanwhile, had been the life of the party at Mission Hills, closing the bar each night and freewheeling their way to leads after 36 and 54 holes (shared with Australia after Round 3). Even in defeat, after posting a disappointing 2-under-par 70 in Round 4, Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal hammed it up with supporters at the closing ceremonies and toasted their runner-up finish well into the evening.,

Spain failed to capitalize on the par 5s, making birdie on just two of them. “That’s it. That’s the game,” Jimenez said.

“The only putt we made was mine on 17,” said Larrazabal, referring to their birdie on the par 3.

The Australian duo of Richard Green and Brendan Jones dropped four shots to par in the closing round.

“We were just making little mistakes which we had not made for the first three days,” Jones said. “In the end, the balls were just running too far into the first cut, and it’s a different golf course coming from the rough.”

The Aussies would have been unlikely winners in any case. Green, ranked 59^th in the world, is a lefthander who had 10 years between World Cup appearances. Jones, No. 63 in the OWGR, plies his trade on the Japan Golf Tour and wields a broom-handle putter, a weapon rarely employed by golf's elite.

Expectations for the United States’ team of Ben Curtis and Brandt Snedeker were higher. The Americans closed with a 1-over-par 73 and finished 13 under par, good for ninth place.

World Cup teams are determined by Official World Golf Ranking status; each nation's highest-ranked player gets to pick his partner. The top eight Americans declined the World Cup invitation, leaving the honor to No. 25 Curtis.

“Ben picked a bad partner,” said the newlywed Snedeker, who came to Mission Hills straight from his honeymoon in Fiji. “If he had picked anybody else he might have won this week. But we had a great time. I can’t think of the last time I had as much fun playing bad golf.”