Ireland takes World Cup lead

BY Bruce Young | Asian Tour | 2011 Omega Mission Hills World Cup | Round Three | 27 Nov 2011

Haikou, China, November 26: Ireland’s Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell broke free of the chasing pack when they posted an eight-under-par 64 to take a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup on Saturday.

The past and present US Open champions struck a formidable partnership which saw them signing for a three-day total of 21-under-par 195 at the Mission Hills Resort in Hainan Island.

Germany and South Africa took advantage of the low scoring fourballs format to return with matching 61s for a share of second place alongside the United States while overnight co-leader Australia slipped to fifth place on 198 at the biennial event.

Korea emerged as the leading Asian country after Kim Hyung-sung and Park Sung-joon adding a 64 to their previous scores of 66 and 71 to take a share of ninth place with Scotland and Wales.

Although Ireland still holds the advantage, McDowell is aware that the final day challenge will come from the testing foursomes format as well as the strength of their closest rivals.

“We are right where we want to be going into tomorrow. The leaderboard was really going to sort of not mean anything until tonight, and we are two shots ahead going into tomorrow, but some great teams up there, some great players,” said McDowell.

World number two McIlroy is relishing the final day challenge as he is not only hoping to bring honour to Ireland but also ink his place among golf’s greatest players.

“It would be incredible just to add your name to the list of names and countries that have won this tournament. The likes of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, there are just two American teams that feature four of the best players ever to play the game. So to be able to put your name on a trophy like that would be very special,” said McIlroy.

Germany, who started the day in equal 10th five shots behind the leaders, surged back into contention after Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka blitzed the course with 11 birdies.

All eyes will be on the Germans on the final day especially Kaymer as he has shown that he is able to deliver a knockout blow on the day where it matters most.

“I think a tournament is about you play your first couple of rounds, see where you are at the leaderboard, and then maybe you can put yourself in a good position on Saturday in order to win on Sunday. You are not trying to win the tournament on Thursday or Friday,” said Kaymer who staged a remarkable comeback by overcoming a five-shot deficit to win the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai earlier this month.

The South African partnership of Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen also served notice of their intention to challenge for their country’s sixth World Cup after shrugging off their putting woes.

“We scored very well today. The first two days, we really struggled with putting. And today from the seventh, eighth and ninth holes onwards, we made three birdies in a row, so suddenly we felt like we were back to our normal selves,” said Masters champion Schwartzel.

2010 British Open winner Oosthuizen believed that it is their close friendship which could put South Africa on the brink of national glory tomorrow.

“We are good friends and I think it’s a big thing in this format, in any team sport. The more you know each other, the better you’re going to do, and I think we are very comfortable around each other playing on the course,” said Oosthuizen.

Third round scores
195 –IRELAND (Graeme McDOWELL & Rory McILROY) 63-68-64
197 –USA (Gary WOODLAND & Matt KUCHAR) 64-70-63
197 –GERMANY (Alex CEJKA & Martin KAYMER) 65-71-61
197 – SOUTH AFRICA (Charls SCHWARTZEL & Louis OOSTHUIZEN) 68-68-61
198 –AUSTRALIA (Brendan JONES & Richard GREEN) 61-70-67
199 –NETHERLANDS (Robert-Jan DERKSEN & Joost LUITEN) 64-71-64
200 –MEXICO (Jose DE JESUS RODRIGUEZ & Oscar SERNA) 66-69-65
200 –ITALY (Edoardo MOLINARI & Francesco MOLINARI) 67- 69-64
201 –SCOTLAND (Stephen GALLACHER & Martin LAIRD) 63- 69-69
201 –WALES (Rhys DAVIES & Jamie DONALDSON) 67-69-65
201 –KOREA (KIM Hyung-sung & PARK Sung-joon) 66-71-64
202 –SPAIN (Alvaro QUIROS & Miguel Angel JIMENEZ) 65-69-68
202 -NEW ZEALAND (Gareth PADDISON & Michael HENDRY) 66-68-68
202 –JAPAN (Yuta IKEDA & Tetsuji HIRATSUKA) 66-70-66
203 –ENGLAND (Justin ROSE & Ian POULTER) 66-69-68
203 –ZIMBABWE (Brendon DE JONGE & Bruce MCDONALD) 66-70-67
204 –FRANCE (Gregory BOURDY & Raphael JACQUELIN) 66-70-68
204 –THAILAND (Kiradech APHIBARNRAT & Thongchai JAIDEE) 66-70-68
204 –CHINA (LIANG Wen-chong & ZHANG Xin-jun) 68-68-68
204 –PORTUGAL (Hugo SANTOS & Ricardo SANTOS) 70-68-66
205 –DENMARK (Anders HANSEN & Thorbjorn OLESEN) 65-72-68
205 –COLOMBIA (Manny VILLEGAS & Camilo VILLEGAS) 65-76-64
206 –BRAZIL (Lucas LEE & Adilson DA SILVA) 68-71-67
206 –SWEDEN (Alexander NOREN & Robert KARLSSON) 66-74-66
206 –AUSTRIA (Florian PRAEGANT & Roland STEINER) 69-72-65
208 –SINGAPORE (LAM Chih Bing & Mardan MAMAT) 68-75-65
212 –BELGIUM (Jerome THEUNIS & Nicolas COLSAERTS) 67-77-68
215 –GUATEMALA (Pablo ACUNA &Jose TOLEDO)75-74

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