Italy wins Omega Mission Hills World Cup

Francesco and Edoardo Molinari won the Omega Mission Hills World Cup for Italy, firing a closing 68 to finish one shot clear of Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.

Edoardo and Francesco Molinari
Fergus Bisset
By
published

Francesco and Edoardo Molinari won the Omega Mission Hills World Cup for Italy, firing a closing 68 to finish one shot clear of Ireland's Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.

The Italian brothers came into the final round a shot behind the Irish pairing but they pegged back the deficit before three consecutive birdies on the back nine gave them a narrow advantage they maintained until the end.

It was a first World Cup victory for Italy and a second title in two weeks for Edoardo who won the Dunlop Phoenix tournament in Japan last Sunday. Brother Francesco was delighted with the manner of their win at Mission Hills.

"It's really great for Italy. I think we deserved it as we attacked from the first day with every putt and every shot and we tried to make as many birdies as possible," he said.

As well as a winner's cheque for over €1 million the brothers were also awarded a rare bottle of 30-year-old Ballantines whisky.

Ireland who led after rounds one, two and three played a solid final round of two-under-par 70 but they came up just short of the Italian's winning total.

"I'm very happy for Italy," said McIlroy. "For two brothers to go out and win a title like this, it's incredible. It will be a great sense of satisfaction in the family tonight and across the whole country. It's been a great week and Graeme and I really enjoyed it."

Consolation for the Irish came in the fact they recorded the lowest round of the week - a 58 in the opening day's fourball. The pair were awarded a bottle of Ballantine's 21-year-old for that effort. McDowell is an international brand ambassador for the whisky.

Defending champions Sweden finished the week in a tie for second with the Irish while the English duo of Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher fired a closing 64 to climb to fourth spot.

Omega Mission Hills World Cup Mission Hills GC, China Nov 26-29, purse $5,500,000, par 72

1    Italy            64    66    61    68    259    €1,135,680     Edoardo Molinari / Francesco Molinari T2    Ireland        58    68    64    70    260    €484,334     Graeme McDowell / Rory McIlroy T2    Sweden        64    65    62    69    260    €484,334     Robert Karlsson / Henrik Stenson 4    England        66    69    63    64    262    €205,758     Ian Poulter / Ross Fisher 5    Japan            62    71    64    69    266    €153,650     Hiroyuki Fujita / Ryuji Imada 6    Australia        68    70    62    67    267    €133,609     Stuart Appleby / Robert Allenby T7    Wales            66    68    64    70    268    €85,510     Stephen Dodd / Jamie Donaldson T7    South Africa    65    70    62    71    268    €85,510     Rory Sabbatini / Richard Sterne T7    Germany        66    71    66    65    268    €85,510     Martin Kaymer / Alex Cejka T7    USA            67    72    67    62    268    €85,510     Nick Watney / John Merrick T7    Korea            64    75    61    68    268    €85,510     Charlie Wi / Yong-eun Yang

Fergus Bisset
Fergus Bisset
Contributing Editor

Fergus is Golf Monthly's resident expert on the history of the game and has written extensively on that subject. He has also worked with Golf Monthly to produce a podcast series. Called 18 Majors: The Golf History Show it offers new and in-depth perspectives on some of the most important moments in golf's long history. You can find all the details about it here.

He is a golf obsessive and 1-handicapper. Growing up in the North East of Scotland, golf runs through his veins and his passion for the sport was bolstered during his time at St Andrews university studying history. He went on to earn a post graduate diploma from the London School of Journalism. Fergus has worked for Golf Monthly since 2004 and has written two books on the game; "Great Golf Debates" together with Jezz Ellwood of Golf Monthly and the history section of "The Ultimate Golf Book" together with Neil Tappin , also of Golf Monthly.

Fergus once shanked a ball from just over Granny Clark's Wynd on the 18th of the Old Course that struck the St Andrews Golf Club and rebounded into the Valley of Sin, from where he saved par. Who says there's no golfing god?

Latest