CLICK FOR PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy - Paul Lakatos)

Dongguan, China, November 30: Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson produced a magnificent three-stroke victory for Sweden at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup after shooting a nine-under-par 63 in the final round foursomes on Sunday.

Four shots off the lead at the start of the day, the Swedes charged up the leaderboard with a stunning front nine of 31 in the alternate shot format to tie Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal before racing home for Sweden's second World Cup triumph with four more birdies giving them a winning total of 27-under-par 261.

The Spaniards settled for second place after returning a 70 while joint overnight leaders Australia, represented by Brendan Jones and Richard Green, finished equal third with Japan after a disappointing 76.

Ryuji Imada and Toru Taniguchi were Asia's best finishers for Japan, a 68 putting them level with Australia at the conclusion of the US$5.5 million Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

Sweden's only victory in the World Cup was recorded in 1991 through Per-Ulrik Johansson and Anders Forsbrand but Karlsson, ranked sixth in the world, and the 12th ranked Stenson lived up to their top billing at Mission Hills by saving their best for last.

"We've had a great time all week. We played fantastic today, obviously, to go out and shoot that score. We felt like we could have a chance if we got going, and we did. I haven't had a win so far this year, and I got one now, so I'm very pleased with that. And Robert can stack it up with all of the other ones he has already," said Stenson, who shared the top prize of US$1.7 million with Karlsson.

Karlsson, the European Tour number one in 2008 following two victories, said they knew that a low round in the more challenging foursomes format was always on the cards after Spain produced a 63 on Friday.

"We thought it might be our turn today. We knew we needed to play better than yesterday. It was important for us to pick up a few shots early which we did," said Karlsson, who was making his third World Cup appearance but partnering Stenson for the first time.

Karlsson added that they were proud to have their names line up alongside many of golf's greatest pairings on the World Cup trophy which include Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Harold Henning and Tiger Woods and David Duval.

"It means very much to win for the country. This has always been an event in Sweden that's been big. To play for your country is great. If you look on the trophy, there's many impressive pairings on there. I hope we can look back on it in the future and say the same about us playing here."

Stenson, who finished second and third in 2005 and 2006 respectively at the World Cup, added: "It's a great honour to play for your country, and obviously even better when you win. I think Sweden only won it once before in 1991. So it was about time that we changed that and got our name up there again."

Unlike Friday's session where Spain produced the day's best round, Jimenez and Larrazabal failed to fire on all cylinders in the final day, turning in 35 before shooting two more birdies against a lone bogey at the closing hole.

Jimenez said: "We didn't hole the putts today, and I missed the fairway on the par fives and we needed to make birdies on the par fives. That's the game. We just didn't make under par and didn't win.

"We didn't play like the first and second rounds, but still it was a good performance and a great tournament for us. But you know, I wanted so badly to go home with the trophy, and I'm a little bit sad now."

The Australians stayed in the title hunt after making the turn in even par with two birdies against as many bogeys but another dropped shot on the 12th hole left them with an uphill task. Three closing bogeys saw them drop into a share of third place with Japan.

"Just didn't happen for us today," said Green. "We went out there with all of the right intentions and give it as good of a shot and tried our best and things didn't happen. We didn't have too many opportunities, unfortunately. It was just a bit of a struggle most of the day."

Imada, who won once on the US PGA Tour this year, holed out from the bunker for an eagle on the 15th hole as Japan enjoyed a strong finish. "He (Taniguchi) made a birdie putt on 14, and I got a little bit lucky and holed out a bunker shot on 15. We made a good save on 17 and a solid par on 18. It was a great finish. We played really well for foursomes, but I think we let a few get away in the four‑ball," he said.

China's Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong shot a 72 for a 280 total and settled for a share of 17th place with India.

Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng and Thongchai Jaidee enjoyed a 68 to finish joint seventh alongside England while Mars Pucay and Angelo Que combined for a 72 to enjoy a top-10 outing.

"We enjoyed the moment and had fun. I think it'll be pretty soon when Asian teams can start contending at the World Cup. Our players are getting out more and we have good players. In a few years time, we'll be contending. The format is tough, especially the foursomes," said Que, who was making his debut in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

Prayad was delighted that he and partner Thongchai improved on last year's tied 15th outing. "It's about having a good partner and making a good plan. One day, we'll be a winner of the World Cup. We're the top two Thais in the world rankings at the moment and hopefully can continue to represent our country in the World Cup in the near future."


Final scores:-

261: Sweden (Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson) 65-67-66-63 US$1.7 million

264: Spain (Miguel Angel Jimenez, Pablo Larrazabal) 64-63-67-70 US$900,000

270: Japan (Ryuji Imada, Toru Taniguchi) 66-68-68-68, Australia (Richard Green, Brendan Jones) 63-68-63-76 US$429,000

272: Germany (Martin Kaymer, Alex Cejka) 62-69-68-73 US$230,000

273: England (Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher) 69-74-63-67 US$200,000

274: South Africa (Rory Sabbatini, Richard Sterne) 70-70-67-67, Thailand (Prayad Marksaeng, Thongchai Jaidee) 69-73-64-68 US$155,000

275: USA (Ben Curtis, Brandt Snedeker) 64-69-69-73 US$125,000

276: Chile (Felipe Aguilar, Mark Tullo) 67-76-66-67, France (Gregory Havret, Gregory Bourdy) 68-75-62-71, Philippines (Angelo Que, Marciano Pucay) 67-72-65-72 US$96,667

277: Portugal (Tiago Cruz, Ricardo Santos) 67-73-67-70, Canada (Graham Delaet, Wes Heffernan) 64-71-69-73, Denmark (Soren Hansen, Anders Hansen) 65-75-64-73 US$70,333

278: Ireland (Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley) 65-68-68-77 US$64,000

280: India (Jeev Mikha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa) 67-72-70-71, China (Liang Wen-chong, Zhang Lian-wei) 69-75-64-72 US$61,000

281: Scotland (Alastair Forsyth, Colin Montgomerie) 68-73-68-72, Italy (Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari) 70-73-64-74 US$57,000

282: Finland (Roope Kakko, Mikko Korhonen) 69-70-68-75 US$54,000

283: Guatemala (Pablo Acuna, Alejandro Villavicencio) 69-76-66-72, New Zealand (Mark Brown, David Smail) 65-75-68-75 US$51,000

284: Chinese Taipei (Lin Wen-tang, Lu Wen-teh) 68-75-69-72 US$48,000

285: Wales (Bradley Dredge, Richard Johnson) 69-77-68-71 US$46,000

287: Korea (Bae Sang-moon, Kim Hyung-tae) 68-70-71-78 US$44,000

288: Mexico (Daniel De Leon, Osca Serna) 66-77-71-74 US$42,000

294: Venezuela (Miguel Martinez, Raul Sanz) 71-74-75-74 US$40,000