2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup - Round 3: US keep one ahead of Scotland and France

The unheralded American combination of Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum maintained their grip in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup after a tough third round on Saturday.

With winds swirling and the greens firming up at the Mission Hills Golf Club’s Olazabal Course, the Americans battled to a six-under-par 66 in the fourballs to retain the lead for the third straight day by one stroke.

The biggest movers were Frenchmen Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret, who charged into contention by firing the day’s best of 62 for joint second place with Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren, who dovetailed to a 66.

The highly fancied English team of Justin Rose and Ian Poulter slipped back to a share of fourth place, two off the pace, with South African duo Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman. The Englishmen carded a 67 while the South Africans were a shot better.

Slocum, a two-time winner on the US PGA Tour, said: "I think it was a very tough day today. I thought the pins were very difficult. The wind, I think it blew harder today than it has the other days; it still swirled.

"We just didn't hit anything real close all day. It was tough, and we missed some putts but I think what we did, we survived and with both of us not playing our best golf. So I think we have to feel a little fortunate but still happy, very happy with the position we're in going into tomorrow."

Weekley, who lists deer hunting as one of his passions, got the team off on a flying start by shooting down an eagle on the third hole but the birdie barrage failed to materialise under tough scoring conditions.

With one round to the finish line, the Americans will be hoping to add a 24th victory for the US in the World Cup and join great combinations like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, Davis Love and Fred Couples and Mark O’Meara and Tiger Woods as winners of the team competition billed as the "Olympics of Golf."

"Obviously this victory I think would mean tons for both of us. Obviously you said the field's not strong enough. I think that, again, we're representing the United States, and we couldn't be more happy to do that.

"So whoever is here representing their countries, obviously came, so I think we'd be elated to win," said Slocum.

Montgomerie, an eight-time European number one, rolled in a birdie on his last hole to nudge Scotland into a share of second place and give themselves a chance of making up for last year’s disappointment of losing in a play-off to Germany.

Warren, combining with Montgomerie for the second year, feels their experience gained from last year could give them a vital edge at crunch time. "The last (birdie) was massive for us. After last year coming so close, we want to win it this year and we gave ourselves the chance to do it tomorrow.

"Obviously there’s a lot of pressure playing for your country and you want to do well. And Scotland have never won the event before, so it would be nice to be a part of the first winning team.

"Because of the experience from last year, I think we're maybe one up on the other teams out there," said Warren.

Havret, winner of the Barclays Scottish Open this year when he beat Phil Mickelson in a play-off, drained a 30-footer for eagle on the ninth hole to launch France into contention.

"The first eight holes were pretty good but just average, we were two‑under, but the last 10 holes was very good. We played eight‑under in the last 10. We had a beautiful eagle at the ninth, a few good birdies and one chip-in," said Havret, who is making his debut in the World Cup.

A return to China brings back fond memories for Jacquelin as he drove off with the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai in April but a victory in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup would be extra special as France have never won the team event since its inauguration in 1953.

"I don't know what's happening with China. Maybe somebody knows about something, so just let me know," joked Jacquelin. "But I've had a good feeling here, I don't know why. We play quite a lot in Asia now, so we have to be ready to play in different countries, and I'm getting used to putting on the grainy greens maybe. So I'm doing pretty well.

"And if we win tomorrow, it's going to be great … great for Greg because it's his birthday tomorrow, so I'm going to do my best," added Jacquelin, who finished third with Thomas Levet in the 2003 edition.

Third round scores (click here for leaderboard):

196: USA (Boo Weekley/Heath Slocum) 61-69-66
197: France (Raphael Jacquelin/Gregory Havret) 64-71-62, Scotland (Colin Montgomerie/Marc Warren) 63-68-66
198: South Africa (Retief Goosen/Trevor Immelman) 63-69-66, England (Justin Rose/Ian Poulter) 63-68-67
199: Argentina (Andres Romero/Ricardo Gonzales) 65-70-64, Holland (Robert-Jan Derksen/Maarten Lafeber) 65-69-65, Germany (Martin Kaymer/Alex Cejka) 62-71-66
201: Denmark (Anders Hansen/Soren Hansen) 65-68-68
202: Thailand (Thongchai Jaidee/Prayad Marksaeng) 63-76-63, Canada (Mike Weir/Wes Heffernan) 66-72-64, Finland (Mikko Ilonen/Pasi Purhonen) 63-74-65, Sweden (Robert Karlsson/Peter Hanson) 66-70-66, Italy (Edoardo Molinari/Francesco Molinari) 65-68-69
203: Ireland (Michael Hoey/Gareth Maybin) 66-72-65, Spain (Miguel Angel Jimenez/Jose Manuel Lara) 67-71-65, China (Liang Wen-chong/Zhang Lian-wei) 65-71-67, Korea (Lee Sung/Lee Seung-ho) 65-69-69
205: India (Jyoti Randhawa/Gaurav Ghei) 65-75-65
206: Wales (Bradley Dredge/Stephen Dodd) 63-76-67, Paraguay (Carlos Franco/Fabrizio Zanotti) 66-73-67, Australia (Nick O’Hern/Nathan Green) 66-72-68
208: Philippines (Gerald Rosales/Tony Lascuna) 67-73-68, Austria (Markus Brier/Claude Grenier) 64-75-69
209: Japan (Hideto Tanihara/Tetsuji Hiratsuka) 67-73-69
212: Puerto Rico (Miguel Suarez/Wilfredo Morales) 68-73-71
214: New Zealand (Stephen Scahill/Richard Lee) 67-77-70
215: Colombia (Jorge Benedetti/Gustavo Mendoza) 68-79-68

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 24, 2007

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