China seals close Shenzhen victory
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, December 16, 2013
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Members of Team China pose with the trophy after beating an Asia-Pacific Select Team at the 2013 Dongfeng Nissan Cup in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, yesterday. |
Team China made the best of atrocious weather yesterday to pip an Asia-Pacific Select side 12 1/2-11 1/2 and win the Ryder Cup-style Dongfeng Nissan Cup for the first time.
It took the last putt of a gripping contest to decide the match in China's favor, with the home team winning yesterday's singles 7-5 after taking Saturday's foursomes 4-2 and going down 1 1/2-4 1/2 in Friday's fourball encounters.
The Dongfeng Nissan Cup pits 12 Asia-Pacific players against a China national team over three days of matchplay competition in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province. The visitors won the inaugural 2011 tournament 12 1/2-11 1/2, and retained the title last year with a 14 1/2-9 1/2 victory.
"I said last week that when it comes to golf, China has been asleep for 40 years, but they have certainly woken up now," said legendary five-time Open Championship winner Peter Thomson, captain of the Asia-Pacific Select side for a third year. "I am very impressed with the progress they have made. They are ready to take on anyone."
In Chonburi, Spaniard Sergio Garcia carded a final-round 68 to cruise to a four-stroke win at the Thailand Golf Championship yesterday for his first title of the year.
Garcia, 33, combined six birdies with two bogeys during the final round at the Amata Spring Country Club for a four-day total of 22-under-par 266 in the US$1 million Asian Tour event.
World No. 3 Swede Henrik Stenson also shot a 68 with five birdies and a bogey to finish second but never managed to put Garcia under serious pressure.
"It was great, an amazing week... obviously being the last week of the year and for having Katharina (Boehm) caddie for me," Garcia, who had his girlfriend caddying for him, told reporters.
Stenson, the first man to win the US Tour's lucrative FedExCup series and the European money list double in 2013, had halved Garcia's overnight lead to two on the turn but the Spaniard put paid to his hopes by sinking three consecutive birdies from the 10th.
Stenson rued some missed opportunities yesterday but was not too unhappy with his overall performance during the week.
"I've had a great year but coming here really on the fumes left in the tank, not too much going for me to perform in that sense," the Swede said. "But I played really nicely yesterday and I was hanging in there today."
Frenchman Alexander Levy (69) was four shots behind Stenson in third while US Open champion Justin Rose (72), last year's winner Charl Schwartzel (67) of South Africa, India's Anirban Lahiri (73) and Japan's Yuki Kono (69) were joint fourth.
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