Nov 29, 2016: Wu Ashun and Li Haotong delivered China’s best ever finish at the US$8 million ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf after coming in tied second behind champions Denmark at Kingston Heath Golf Club on Sunday.
The Chinese duo fought superbly in the final day’s fourball session, combining effectively for a seven-under-par 65 and a 16-under-par 272 aggregate to end the week four shots behind Danish duo Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen. It was Denmark’s first victory in the World Cup of Golf.
American’s Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker fired a closing 66 to share second place while Frenchman Victor Dubuisson and Romain Langasque carded a fine 63 to also finish joint runner-up in the 28-nation event.
Wu and Li, both winners on the European Tour, were disappointed they did not push the Danes till the finish line, missing birdie chances on 17 and 18. Still, it was China’s best outing in the World Cup of Golf as Li and Wu improved on Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong’s tied 11th finish in the 2008 edition.
Wu said: “We almost got the trophy. We played very well this week, also today. Playing with my partner Li was very exciting. After four holes and making two birdies, I thought we had a chance to touch the trophy as we were only two behind. My partner is a great player. We’ll keep in touch, keep practising hard and I know we can do better next time. Chinese players can win the tournament.”
The slender Li, winner of his national Open this year on the European Tour, felt he left some shots out on the course as they shared US$880,333 for their gallant effort. “We feel average as we didn’t really play our best. We still have a lot of chances to win this trophy, so I’m looking forward to it. This will certainly help the game in China. We have a big future,” said the 21-year-old, who was born in 1995 – the year China hosted its first World Cup of Golf.
“Over the last few holes we missed some putts which could have cost us some US$500,000. I think it’s a decent finish and hopefully next time we will play great again.”
Victory was sweet for the 41-year-old Kjeldsen and Olesen, 26, who had finished third in the last World Cup of Golf in 2013 with Thomas BJorn, also held in Melbourne then. They earned the champions’ cheque of US$2.56 million.
Holding a four-shot overnight lead, Olesen and Kjeldsen saw their advantage reduced to one with a subdued outward 35 but they stormed home in 31 to deliver an historic win for their nation with a winning aggregate of 20-under-par 268.
Kjeldsen, featuring in his sixth World Cup of Golf, said: “It’s been absolutely an incredible week. The camaraderie between us was great all week. When you’re on the back nine on Sunday, you feel like you would die for your partner. I’ve never experienced that before.”
Power-packed Olesen, who has five international victories, was equally delighted that Denmark made golfing history at Kingston Heath. “Every time I’ve won, it’s been very close. When I looked at the leaderboard, I said ‘here we go again’. It was tough but me and Soren played great and our mental strength was very good. We kept calm and played our game. I wasn’t too nervous on the back nine as I thought we would make birdies at some point and they came at the right time,” said the 26-year-old.
The ultra-talented Fowler, making his World Cup debut alongside fellow debutant Walker, rued a cold putter as the Americans missed early chances to put the pressure on the leaders.
“We wanted to get out to a quick start and play aggressively. We hit the shots, just didn’t get anything to go in early. So yeah, felt like tee to green we didn’t really miss many shots. It’s always nice if you hit it a little bit closer but really just didn’t get the putts to go in early enough,” said the 27-year-old, a three time PGA Tour winner.
Walker, the 2016 PGA Championship winner, added: “Well, we didn’t get the win, but I know Rick and I would have liked to have played a little better, especially in the best-ball day. I think alternate shot we paired up really nice, but we just didn’t quite get it going early on either of the best ball days and we kind of put ourselves behind the eight ball all day both of those rounds, so that’s where we didn’t get it done, finish strong.”
Leading Final Round Scores
268: Denmark (Søren KJELDSEN / Thorbjørn OLESEN) 72-60-70-66
272: China (WU Ashun / LI Haotong) 70-65-72-65, France (Victor DUBUISSON / Romain LANGASQUE) 70-67-72-63, USA (Rickie FOWLER / Jimmy WALKER) 70-67-69-66
273: Sweden (Alex NOREN / David LINGMERTH) 72-66-73-62
274: Itally (Francesco MOLINARI / Matteo MANASSERO) 71-66-73-64, Japan (Hideki MATSUYAMA / Ryo ISHIKAWA) 73-65-71-65
275: Spain (Rafa CABRERA BELLO / Jon RAHM) 69-67-73-66
Asian Tour Release
