India finish 17th, Sweden win World Cup golf

Dongguan (China), Nov 30: Jeev Milkha Singh and Jyoti Randhawa signed off with a one-under 71 in the final round that saw India finish tied 17th while Sweden won the Omega Mission Hills World Cup here Sunday.

The Indian pair which opened with a fine five-under 67 on the first day, played all four rounds in par or under, but failed to capitalise on the chances that came their way, missing some shot putts each day. The Indian pair picked up $61,000 for their efforts.

Interestingly in 2007, Randhawa had finished tied 17th with the company Gaurav Ghei at the same venue.

Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson produced a magnificent three-stroke victory for Sweden after shooting a nine-under-par 63 in the final round foursomes.

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 with 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 $5.5 million Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

Sweden's only victory in the World Cup came 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.

Karlsson, the European Tour No.1 in 2008 following two victories, and Stenson shared the $1.7 million prize. Stenson finished second and third in 2005 and 2006 at the World Cup.

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.

Final scores: 261 Sweden (Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson) 65-67-66-63; 264 Spain (Miguel Angel Jimenez, Pablo Larrazabal) 64-63-67-70; 270: Japan (Ryuji Imada, Toru Taniguchi) 66-68-68-68, Australia (Richard Green, Brendan Jones) 63-68-63-76; 272 Germany (Martin Kaymer, Alex Cejka) 62-69-68-73; 273 England (Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher) 69-74-63-67; 274 South Africa (Rory Sabbatini, Richard Sterne) 70-70-67-67, Thailand (Prayad Marksaeng, Thongchai Jaidee) 69-73-64-68; 275 US (Ben Curtis, Brandt Snedeker) 64-69-69-73; 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; 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; 278 Ireland (Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley) 65-68-68-77; 280 India (Jeev Mikha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa) 67-72-70-71, China (Liang Wen-chong, Zhang Lian-wei) 69-75-64-72; 281 Scotland (Ala
tair Forsyth, Colin Montgomerie) 68-73-68-72, Italy (Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari) 70-73-64-74; 282 Finland (Roope Kakko, Mikko Korhonen) 69-70-68-75; 283 Guatemala (Pablo Acuna, Alejandro Villavicencio) 69-76-66-72, New Zealand (Mark Brown, David Smail) 65-75-68-75; 284 Chinese Taipei (Lin Wen-tang, Lu Wen-teh) 68-75-69-72; 285 Wales (Bradley Dredge, Richard Johnson) 69-77-68-71; 287 Korea (Bae Sang-moon, Kim Hyung-tae) 68-70-71-78; 288 Mexico (Daniel De Leon, Osca Serna) 66-77-71-74; 294 Venezuela (Miguel Martinez, Raul Sanz) 71-74-75-74

--IANS