2007 Omega Mission Hills World Cup - Round 4: Mission finally accomplished for Scotland

Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren delivered Scotland’s first ever triumph in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup after edging Americans Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum in a thrilling play-off on Sunday.

The Scots, who started the final round one stroke back of the unheralded American duo, won the US$5 million team event with a par on the third hole of a sudden-death shoot-out at Mission Hills Golf Club. Victory was sweet for Scotland as it made up for last year’s disappointment of finishing runner-up to Germany.

The talismanic Montgomerie, hero ofEurope’s recent Ryder Cup triumphs, and Warren combined superbly to shoot a six-under-par 66 in the final round’s foursomes and set the clubhouse target of 25-under-par 263 which Weekley and Slocum matched with their closing 67.

"Fantastic. It’s been a long time for Scotland to win the World Cup, since 1953, I believe and it's amazing we came so close. We’ve been six times runner-up in the World Cup and last year with Marc and I in Barbados, we did the same thing.

"So winning in the play-off today was wonderful. And scoring 66, we won the World Cup in the foursomes, not the four-ball. We won in the alternate-shot where we scored 10-under, and I believe that was the best of any team, and that's why we won the World Cup," said Montgomerie.

Montgomerie, 44, paid tribute to Warren, who is 18 years younger, after the latter pulled off a pressure-packed 12-foot par save on the first extra hole to keep the Scots firmly in the tournament. Warren had also holed an eight-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole which propelled them to the top of the leaderboard.

"The fella (Warren) sitting on my right, what a putt he holed in the first hole of the play-off. We were out … I hit a terrible drive and a terrible bunker shot, and it’s amazing what a good putt can do," said Montgomerie, whose first World Cup success adds to an already glittering career which includes eight European Order of Merit crowns.

Warren said memories of their disappointment in Barbados, where they lost in a play-off, flashed across his mind when he stared at the par putt on the first extra hole. "Well, I knew at the very worst the USA were going to two-putt. So I was trying to put pressure back on them and make them hole that putt and basically keep us in it.

"Fortunately my putt went right in the middle, and it was an important putt to hole, obviously, because it was be-all and end-all right there. Obviously thoughts of Barbados went through my mind, and fortunately for both of us, the putt went in," said Warren.

Slocum and Weekley put up a brave front after coming so close in the event which they held the lead for the first three rounds. "My partner here played unbelievable, he really did, all week. It was fun to watch. I was just trying to cut him a shot here or there. But overall it was a fun week. We were looking for a different outcome. We came close, but, you know, we just fell short," said Slocum.

"Boo's putt the second time we played 18 (in the play-off) was unbelievable. I was standing there; I don't know how it didn't go in."

Playing in the last match, Slocum, a two-time winner on the US PGA Tour, produced a gutsy six-foot birdie on the 18th hole in regulation to force extra time after Weekley had set up the chance with an impeccable eight iron approach.

In the first play-off hole, Warren kept the Scots in the game when he holed a pressure-packed 12-footer for par while Slocum missed a 10 foot birdie chance to seal what would have been the United States’ 24th victory in the World Cup.

After a pair of pars in the second extra hole, the contest was effectively over after Slocum hit a poor chip from the front of the green to leave Weekley with a 20-foot par save which he failed to convert. Scotland safely two putted for par to secure their first victory in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret shot a flawless 67 to finish third, one shot shy of the play-off teams while England’s Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, the pre-tournament favourite, settled for fourth place after a 67 as well.

China’s Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong closed with a fine 68 to finished tied 11th on 271 with Korean duo Lee Seung-ho and Lee Sung as the two nations finished as the top Asians in the 28-team competition.

It was China’s best finish in the World Cup since its inauguration in 1953 which left Zhang, 42, delighted with the team’s performance in front of enthusiastic and large galleries at Mission Hills’ Olazabal Course.

"We are really happy with where we finished," said Liang. "Six birdies (today) is exactly the same number that we had in the second round of this tournament, and we had a really good round. We coordinated with each other pretty well and are happy with the result."

Zhang added: "This is a really good tournament and I think we will play even better next year because throughout these four rounds of golf, we think we can get better."

Final Round Scores (click here for leaderboard):

263: Scotland (Colin Montgomerie/Marc Warren) 63-68-66-66, USA (Heath Slocum/Boo Weekley) 61-69-66-67
(Scotland win with a par at the third hole of a sudden-death play-off)
264: France (Raphael Jacquelin/Gregory Havret) 64-71-62-67
265: England (Justin Rose/Ian Poulter) 63-68-67-67
267: South Africa (Retief Goosen/Trevor Immelman) 63-69-66-69
268: Sweden (Robert Karlsson/Peter Hanson) 66-70-66-66, Germany (Alex Cejka/Martin Kaymer) 62-71-66-69, Holland (Robert-Jan Derksen/Maarten Lafeber) 65-69-65-69, Argentina (Ricardo Gonzalez/Andres Romero) 65-70-64-69
269: Denmark (Soren Hansen/Anders Hansen) 65-68-68-68
271: Korea (Lee Sung/Lee Seung-ho) 65-69-69-68, China (Zhang Lian-wei/Liang Wen-chong) 65-71-67-68
273: Spain (Miguel Angel Jimenez/Jose Maneul Lara) 67-71-65-70, Finland (Pasi Purhonen/Mikko Ilonen) 63-74-65-71
275: Paraguay (Carlos Franco/Fabrizio Zanotti) 66-73-67-69, Thailand (Thongchai Jaidee/Prayad Marksaeng) 63-76-63-73
276: Austria (Markus Brier/Claude Grenier) 64-75-69-68, India (Jyoti Randhawa/Gaurav Ghei) 65-75-65-71, Italy (Edoardo Molinari/Francesco Molinari) 65-68-69-74, Canada (Mike Weir/Wes Heffernan) 66-72-64-74
279: Australia (Nick O’Hern/Nathan Green) 66-72-68-73
280: Philippines (Gerald Rosales/Tony Lascuna) 67-73-68-72, Wales (Stephen Dodd/Bradley Dredge) 63-76-67-74
281: Ireland (Michael Hoey/Gareth Maybin) 66-72-65-78
282: Japan (Hideto Tanihara/Tetsuji Hiratsuka) 67-73-69-73
283: Colombia (Jorge Benedetti/Gustavo Mendoza) 68-79-68-68
287: New Zealand (Richard Lee/Stephen Scahill) 67-77-70-73
288: Puerto Rico (Miguel Suarez/Wilfredo Morales) 68-73-71-76

November 25, 2007

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