| Francesco and Edoardo Molinari winning the World Cup at Mission Hills 2009 |
| Sunday, 29 November 2009 | |
|
Francesco and Edoardo Molinari won a
dramatic three-way final-round tussle with Sweden and Ireland to clinch
a first World Cup of Golf for Italy by one stroke.
Edoardo, pupil of Putting Coach Phil Kenyon, continued his great form on the greens while partnering his brother Francesco to become first siblings to lift the John Jay Hopkins trophy in the 55 times the event has been staged. The brothers found their putting touch on the back nine to finish with a four-under-par 68 for a total of 29 under par at Mission Hills, while their rivals for the title faltered. Ireland's Rory McIllroy and Graeme McDowell, who had led the tournament all week after an opening round of 58, carded an error-strewn 70 to share second with defending champions Sweden represented by Henrik Stenson - another pupil of Putting Pro Phil Kenyon - and Robert Karlsson, who shot a 69. Edoardo Molinari leapt around the 18th green after securing victory with a two-foot par putt."It's amazing, we don't really have any words," said Francesco, who will share a cheque for $1.7m (£1m) with his brother. "It's been really tough all day, we were playing against some of the best golfers in the world. It was really tough until the last green. But it's even better when it's like this." "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. I was lucky to hole two big putts on 12 and 13 which were probably the key moment and we just had to hang in there and hope for the best."
|
