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.
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."
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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 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?
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