2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup - Round 1: US pair mark Thanksgiving with birdie feast

Americans Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum silenced their critics when they fired a blistering 11-under-par 61 for the first round lead in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup on Thursday.

An inspired Weekley contributed six birdies and an eagle in the fourball format while childhood friend Slocum sank an eagle and a birdie at the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills Golf Club, on Thanks Giving day.

Germany’s Alex Cejka and Martin Kaymer combined to shoot a flawless 10 birdies as their bid to emulate compatriots Bernhard Langer and Marcel Siem, winners of the World Cup last year, got off to flying start.

Pre-tournament favourites Justin Rose and Ian Poulter of England and South Africans Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman shot 63s to be amongst those lying in a share of third place.

"This is like our Olympics, this is just a dream for me," said Weekley, ranked 43rd in the world.

The American duo were late replacements for Arron Oberholser and Sean O’Hair and they seized the opportunity to represent the Stars and Stripes team with both hands. The US have won the World Cup a record 23 times.

Weekley got the team off the mark with a birdie on the first hole before Slocum snared an eagle on the third, ramming home a 25-foot putt. They enjoyed a birdie binge before Weekley produced the shot of the day by holing out a six iron from 185 yards with a six iron.

"It was a really good day for us, I enjoyed watching Boo play today ... I was cheering for him a lot," said Slocum, who is ranked 70th in the world.

Weekley dismissed suggestions that the US had sent a weak team, where world number one and two, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, declined the opportunity to represent the team in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

"I thought they sent the best team," he smiled. "When I found out I was in, I nearly about cried probably just to be able to know that I can come over and represent the United States, it's a plus for me. And then to be able to call one of my good friends up, Heath Slocum that I grew up with and asked him to come play with me, that's even better."

First Round Scores (click here for leaderboard):

61: USA (Boo Weekley/Heath Slocum)
62: Germany (Martin Kaymer/Alex Cejka)
63: Finland (Mikko Ilonen/Pasi Purhonen), Wales (Bradley Dredge/Stephen Dodd), Scotland (Colin Montgomerie/Marc Warren), South Africa (Retief Goosen/Trevor Immelman), Thailand     (Thongchai Jaidee/Prayad Marksaeng), England (Justin Rose/Ian Poulter)
64: France (Raphael Jacquelin/Gregory Havret), Austria (Markus Brier/Claude Grenier)
65: Korea (Lee Sung/Lee Seung-ho), Italy (Edoardo Molinari/Francesco Molinari), Holland (Robert-Jan Derksen/Maarten Lafeber), Denmark (Anders Hansen/Soren Hansen), India (Jyoti Randhawa/Gaurav Ghei), Argentina (Andres Romero/Ricardo Gonzales), China (Liang Wen-chong/Zhang Lian-wei)
66: Paraguay (Carlos Franco/Fabrizio Zanotti), Sweden (Robert Karlsson/Peter Hanson), Canada (Mike Weir/Wes Heffernan), Ireland (Michael Hoey/Gareth Maybin), Australia (Nick O'Hern/Nathan Green)
67: Philippines (Gerald Rosales/Tony Lascuna), New Zealand (Stephen Scahill/Richard Lee), Spain (Miguel Angel Jimenez/Jose Manuel Lara), Japan (Hideto Tanihara/Tetsuji Hiratsuka)
68: Germany (Jorge Benedetti/Gustavo Mendoza), Puerto Rico (Miguel Suarez/Wilfredo Morales)

Note: The first and third rounds will use the fourball (better ball) format while the second and final rounds will use the foursomes (alternate shot) format.

November 22, 2007

Bookmark page with:

Return to Top of Page