Mighty English finish comes up shy at Omega Mission Hills World Cup as USA triumphs

Are they any good at foursomes in England? Yep. Nine-Under par from Poulter and Rose, including a 16th hole eagle, came up two strokes shy of team USA (Kuchar and Woodland) as the USA duo recovered from a day-two 70 with weekend jaunts of 63 (fourball) and 67 (foursomes-alternate shot) to claim the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

Germany could not sustain the energy of its Saturday 61, one of three in the tournament (Australia and South Africa had the others) and matched England for runner-up placing at the Hainan Island resort.

Surprising were the Sunday scores of 74 from South Africa and the 72 from Ireland that took both partnerships out of contention. Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel admirably passed up their national open (currently led by Hennie Otto) to represent their country at Mission Hills, but five bogies relegated the pair to 12th place, 7 strokes behind. The vaunted Irish brace of Mcilroy and Mcdowell also ran into a speed bump on Sunday, matching bogies for birdies (4 of each) on the way to an even-par 72.