GOLF:YET AGAIN, it proved to be a Chinese conundrum that the Irish duo of Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy failed to solve as, with destiny in their own hands, the 54-hole leaders faltered in the final round of the World Cup at Mission Hills in China to slip to a final finishing position of tied-fourth, three strokes behind the new champions, the United States.
“Seriously disappointing,” tweeted McDowell, in getting straight to the point after a final round which started with a three-putt bogey on the first hole and eventually saw G-Mac and McIlroy sign for a closing round of 72, for a total of 21-under-par.
The American duo of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland finished with a closing 67 for 24-under-par to claim the title for the 24th time for the USA, while the English pairing of Ian Poulter and Justin Rose shot a best-of-the-day 63 in the foursomes to surge up the leaderboard to claim tied-second alongside Germany.
For Ireland, though, it was a hugely disappointing conclusion to their quest to become the first Irish winners since Pádraig Harrington and Paul McGinley succeeded at Kiawah Island in 1997. McDowell and McIlroy entered the final round two shots clear of their closest pursuers.
“We just didn’t have it out there, didn’t make anything,” admitted McDowell, with the damage done by a final day’s total of four bogeys – including two on par fives – that halted any momentum.
McDowell added: “Our target was to go out and shoot four-under-par and that’s exactly what we needed to do. We just didn’t get it done.”
The Irish duo – who had finished runners-up on the World Cup’s last staging in 2009 – had to be content with a share of fourth alongside Scotland, Holland and Australia.
The American duo of Kuchar and Woodland ended an 11-year wait for the title, following Tiger Woods’s and David Duval’s victory in 2000. “When I got selected to represent the United States in the World Cup, I also got to choose my partner, and I knew it was going to be a great honour to come here to play for the United States, and I thought that if I picked the right partner, I’d have a real shot at winning the title,” said Kuchar.
“And I chose Gary Woodland, thinking that he would team up well with me, we would have the best shot of winning this title, and he played fantastic this week.
“I have no doubt that he was the best player in the field, and for me, it was a lot of riding his coat-tails, trying to keep encouraging him to keep it going, because he played some great golf.
“And I’m fortunate and really, really excited that I picked him.”
Woodland added: “We played phenomenal, especially today. It’s a tough format, and both of us picked each other up when the other one got in trouble and to go out and shoot, I don’t know what we shot today, we got off to a hot start early, played solid on the front and really we were not in trouble in the back at all. It was a good day.”
