A magnificent display of precision putting from Paul Casey brought England only their second ever World Cup win on Sunday and spoiled the party for home favorites Spain.
Casey and his partner Luke Donald were in a dogfight with Sergio Garcia and Miguel Angel Jimenez for the sport's top multi-nation team title as they reached the turn in the closing foursomes.
PHOTO: EPA
That was when the Ryder Cup star produced three crucial birdie putts in a row from the 10th, two from 25 feet and one from 12 feet, to propel his team into a four-stroke lead.
Spain hit back with an eagle at the 13th, but Garcia fatefully went into the water with a risky second to the par-five 16th putting the Spaniards three back.
Even so Casey's grit on the greens was called upon as he needed to sink a three-footer at the last to clinch the win with a bogey five after Spain had birdied.
He did so and he and Donald became only the second English pair in the event's 51-year history to go all the way after Nick Faldo and David Carter in Auckland in 1998.
They finished at 257, 31 under par, after a closing 64 and were one stroke clear of Garcia and Jimenez, who closed with a 66 and three ahead of Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley who came in with a 65.
Reigning champions Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini of South Africa were fourth, a further three strokes back after a final round 68.
"Paul got hot today with his putter and that was the difference," said Donald, who said that he and Casey had drawn inspiration from an e-mail he received from a friend who pointed out that almost a year ago to the day England won the rugby World Cup in Australia.
"Our games are so different but that has its benefits in foursomes," he said.
"I am a very straight hitter and hit a lot of greens, while Paul is a long hitter and a great putter," he said.
Casey, who has gone from fifth place to third to second to win in his four World Cups to date, said that the quality of their score was shown by the fact that they scored better in the foursomes than in the Saturday fourballs.
Garcia said that it had been a towering performance from the English.
"We shot six under par and it wasn't good enough. It was a flipping good score, but it's still disappointing. At least we made them win it. It was gutsy. Paul got up there at the last and it was straight in the middle," Garcia said.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS