Worldwide Golf

ITALIAN brothers Francesco and Edoardo Molinari carded a final round 4-under-par 68 to win the Omega Mission Hills World Cup by one stroke from Sweden and Ireland.

Francesco, the younger of the two, holed three consecutive birdies on the back nine which lifted them into contention and it was left to Edoardo to sink the winning putt on the final green for a 29-under-par total.

Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy had started strongly and at one point held a three-shot lead during the front nine, but they failed to push on and they fell short with a final round of 2-under-par 70. Defending champions Sweden, again represented by Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson, narrowly missed out on glory with a 3-under-par 69 to finish alongside Ireland in second place.

“It’s been a tough day and we have been playing against some of the best golfers in the world. It was really tough until the last hole - but it feels even better when it is like that,” said Francesco. “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.”

England finished fourth on 26-under-par but their impressive 8-under-par 64 came just too late for Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher while Hiroyuki Fujita and Ryuji Imada claimed fifth for Japan a further four shots back after a 69.