USA wins World Cup Australia 4th
Asian Tour | 2011 Omega Mission Hills World Cup | Wrap | 28 Nov 2011
On their tournament debut, Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland timed their late surge to perfection shooting 67 in the final round foursomes to finish 24 under par – two shots clear of nearest rivals England and Germany tied in second place.
It’s the country’s first victory since Tiger Woods and David Duval in 2000 and their 24th win in the competition overall.
Crowds gathered around the 18th green of the Blackstone Course to watch as Mission Hills Group Chairman and CEO Dr Ken Chu and Omega President Stephen Urquhart, presented the Americans with the coveted World Cup trophy.
On becoming World Cup champions, USA’s Matt Kuchar said: “I’m jacked up! This is exciting, World Cup Champions, American style!
“For Gary and I to put our name on the World Cup trophy, it’s a real honour. As well as, to be able to walk through these halls and to see our pictures, this is just a fantastic resort. I think, what a cool place to be remembered here as World Cup Champions. It’s a real honour.”
Kuchar’s partner Gary Woodland added: “Feels great. It was a very nice week, we were treated very nicely here and fortunately we played well.
“This is something that can never be taken away from us and it’s an honour to be on that trophy with other great Americans.”
Dr Ken Chu said: “Today is a fitting climax to what has been a thrilling tournament and on behalf of myself and the whole Mission Hills team I would like congratulate Matt and Gary on their fantastic World Cup victory.
“We are very proud to have hosted this illustrious tournament for the first time at Mission Hills Haikou and appreciate everyone’s hard work in making this a truly memorable World Cup. I’d like to extend my gratitude to our sponsors, especially Omega, for their continued support and to all the players for being excellent ambassadors for the game and Hainan.”
Finishing runners up in second place and tied on 22 under par were England and Germany. England’s Justin Rose and Ian Poulter produced a scintillating final round of 63, including eight birdies and one eagle, to shoot them up the leader board. Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Alex Cejka continued their consistent form finishing three under par for the day.
Elsewhere, Ireland who lead going into the final day couldn’t convert the advantage and a final round of level par 72 saw them drop down to fourth alongside Australia and the Netherlands.
Today’s captivating finale capped a successful week for 56th World Cup of Golf. The event saw close to 100,000 spectators visit the Mission Hills Resort in Haikou on China’s Hainan Island which was hosting the tournament for the first time.
The Australian team of Brendan Jones and Richard Green recovered from a mid round hiccup to finish in a share of 4th position and earned US$165,00 each for their week’s work.
The New Zealand team of Mike Hendry and Gareth Paddison finished 16th.
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