Hainan - It just never got going for Charl Schwartzel and Louis Oosthuizen on Sunday as the United States team of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland cruised to a two-stroke victory in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.
Kuchar and Woodland teamed up for a five-under-par 67 in the closing round for a final score of 24-under-par 264.
South Africa slipped to 12th with their two-over-par 74 final round for the foursomes, while the US had a two stroke cushion over Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Alex Cekja, as Ian Poulter and Justin Rose finished brilliantly for England with a closing 63 to share second.
Australia, Scotland, the Netherlands and Ireland shared fourth at 21-under-par.
“It was very frustrating,” said a disconsolate Oosthuizen. “I mean, we played terribly, both of us. There was nothing more to it.”
This was in stark contrast to their third round as they raced up the leaderboard and into contention, two shots off the pace set by Ireland ahead of the final round.
In that final round, the verve was gone, and as all their opponents got off to a fast start, they ground their way to three pars before they dropped their first of five shots for the day.
“I think we just started out badly and then just couldn't get on a run and it just went on and snowballed,” said Oosthuizen.
“Today was just - we couldn’t get in a rhythm of two or three holes where we hit good shots. If Charl had a bad one, the next hole I had a bad one. We couldn’t get in a rhythm and made too many bogeys,” he added.
Their final round was in stark contrast to the fast start the Americans made.
“In fact, we took momentum from the last hole on Saturday,” said Woodland. “Making par there gave us a boost for the final round, and then we got two birdies in a row to start with.”
“And I got a text message from Phil Mickelson this morning, saying we should go out and be aggressive and win this for the United States, and that was a real motivator,” added Kuchar.
It was the 27th time the United States won the World Cup. South Africa is the next most successful nation, with five victories.
Schwartzel and Oosthuizen dearly wanted to make it number six. “We tried but it was just not there,” said Oosthuizen.
Scores on Sunday after the foursomes alternate shot fourth round of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup (two days of fourballs and two days of foursomes with two-man teams):
264 - USA (Gary Woodland / Matt Kuchar) 64-70-63-67
266 - Germany (Alex Cejka / Martin Kaymar) 65-71-61-69, England (Justin Rose/ Ian Poulter) 66-69-68-63
267 - Australia (Brendan Jones / Richard Green) 61-70-67-69, Netherlands (Robert-Jan Derksen / Joost Luiten) 64-71-64-68, Ireland (Graeme McDowell/ Rory McIlroy) 63-68-64-72, Scotland (Stephen Gallacher / Martin Laird) 63-69-69-66
268 - Wales (Rhys Davies / Jamie Donaldson) 67-69-65,67
269 - Spain (Alvaro Quiros / Miguel Angel Jimenez) 65-69-68-67, Korea (Kim Hyung-sung / Park Sung Joon) 66-71-64-68
270 - Zimbabwe (Brendon De Jonge / Bruce McDonald) 66-70-67-67
271 - South Africa (Charl Schwartzel / Louis Oosthuizen) 68-68-61-74
272 - Denmark (Anders Hansen / Thorbjrn Olesen) 65-72-68-67, Mexico (Jose De Jesus Rodriguez / scar Serna) 66-69-65-72, France (Grgory Bourdy / Raphael Jacquelin) 66-70-68-68
273 - New Zealand (Gareth Paddison / Michael Hendry) 66-68-68-71
274 - Italy (Edoardo / Francesco Molinari) 67-69-64-74
275 - Thailand (Kiradech Aphibarnrat / Thongchai Jaidee) 66-70-68-71, China (Liang Wenchong / Zhang Xinjun) 68, 68, 68,71
276 - Austria Florian Praegant / Roland Steiner) 69-72-65-70, Portugal (Hugo Santos / Ricardo Santos) 70-68-66-72, Japan (Yuta Ikeda/ Tetsuji
Hiratsuka) 66-70-66-74
278 - Brazil (Lucas Lee / Adilson Da Silva) 68-71-67-72, Colombia (Manny Villegas / Camilo Villegas) 65-76-64-73
279 - Sweden (Alexander Noren / Robert Karlsson) 66-74-66-73
282 - Singapore (Lam Chih-bing / Mardan Mamat) 68-75-65-74
285 - Guatemala (Pablo Acuna / Jose Toledo) 75-74-66-70
296 - Belgium (Jerome Theunis / Nicolas Colsaerts) 67-77-68-84
Kuchar and Woodland teamed up for a five-under-par 67 in the closing round for a final score of 24-under-par 264.
South Africa slipped to 12th with their two-over-par 74 final round for the foursomes, while the US had a two stroke cushion over Germany’s Martin Kaymer and Alex Cekja, as Ian Poulter and Justin Rose finished brilliantly for England with a closing 63 to share second.
Australia, Scotland, the Netherlands and Ireland shared fourth at 21-under-par.
“It was very frustrating,” said a disconsolate Oosthuizen. “I mean, we played terribly, both of us. There was nothing more to it.”
This was in stark contrast to their third round as they raced up the leaderboard and into contention, two shots off the pace set by Ireland ahead of the final round.
In that final round, the verve was gone, and as all their opponents got off to a fast start, they ground their way to three pars before they dropped their first of five shots for the day.
“I think we just started out badly and then just couldn't get on a run and it just went on and snowballed,” said Oosthuizen.
“Today was just - we couldn’t get in a rhythm of two or three holes where we hit good shots. If Charl had a bad one, the next hole I had a bad one. We couldn’t get in a rhythm and made too many bogeys,” he added.
Their final round was in stark contrast to the fast start the Americans made.
“In fact, we took momentum from the last hole on Saturday,” said Woodland. “Making par there gave us a boost for the final round, and then we got two birdies in a row to start with.”
“And I got a text message from Phil Mickelson this morning, saying we should go out and be aggressive and win this for the United States, and that was a real motivator,” added Kuchar.
It was the 27th time the United States won the World Cup. South Africa is the next most successful nation, with five victories.
Schwartzel and Oosthuizen dearly wanted to make it number six. “We tried but it was just not there,” said Oosthuizen.
Scores on Sunday after the foursomes alternate shot fourth round of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup (two days of fourballs and two days of foursomes with two-man teams):
264 - USA (Gary Woodland / Matt Kuchar) 64-70-63-67
266 - Germany (Alex Cejka / Martin Kaymar) 65-71-61-69, England (Justin Rose/ Ian Poulter) 66-69-68-63
267 - Australia (Brendan Jones / Richard Green) 61-70-67-69, Netherlands (Robert-Jan Derksen / Joost Luiten) 64-71-64-68, Ireland (Graeme McDowell/ Rory McIlroy) 63-68-64-72, Scotland (Stephen Gallacher / Martin Laird) 63-69-69-66
268 - Wales (Rhys Davies / Jamie Donaldson) 67-69-65,67
269 - Spain (Alvaro Quiros / Miguel Angel Jimenez) 65-69-68-67, Korea (Kim Hyung-sung / Park Sung Joon) 66-71-64-68
270 - Zimbabwe (Brendon De Jonge / Bruce McDonald) 66-70-67-67
271 - South Africa (Charl Schwartzel / Louis Oosthuizen) 68-68-61-74
272 - Denmark (Anders Hansen / Thorbjrn Olesen) 65-72-68-67, Mexico (Jose De Jesus Rodriguez / scar Serna) 66-69-65-72, France (Grgory Bourdy / Raphael Jacquelin) 66-70-68-68
273 - New Zealand (Gareth Paddison / Michael Hendry) 66-68-68-71
274 - Italy (Edoardo / Francesco Molinari) 67-69-64-74
275 - Thailand (Kiradech Aphibarnrat / Thongchai Jaidee) 66-70-68-71, China (Liang Wenchong / Zhang Xinjun) 68, 68, 68,71
276 - Austria Florian Praegant / Roland Steiner) 69-72-65-70, Portugal (Hugo Santos / Ricardo Santos) 70-68-66-72, Japan (Yuta Ikeda/ Tetsuji
Hiratsuka) 66-70-66-74
278 - Brazil (Lucas Lee / Adilson Da Silva) 68-71-67-72, Colombia (Manny Villegas / Camilo Villegas) 65-76-64-73
279 - Sweden (Alexander Noren / Robert Karlsson) 66-74-66-73
282 - Singapore (Lam Chih-bing / Mardan Mamat) 68-75-65-74
285 - Guatemala (Pablo Acuna / Jose Toledo) 75-74-66-70
296 - Belgium (Jerome Theunis / Nicolas Colsaerts) 67-77-68-84