[caption id="attachment_68173" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption=""We had no mojo," said Graeme McDowell."]
Poor putting by Rory McIlroy cost Ireland the Omega Mission Hills World Cup in China. McIlroy, paired with Graeme McDowell, squandered the lead they brought into the fourth and final round.
The Irish duo combined to three-putt the first hole. They regained some momentum when McIlroy played an approach shot to within two feet of the cup at the third hole, followed two holes later by a 10-footer for birdie struck again by McIlroy. A subsequent three-putt odyssey at the sixth hole and a missed two-footer at the 12th sealed their fate.
The United States, represented by Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland, captured the trophy, America's first win since 2000 when David Duval and Tiger Woods were on hand. Germany's Alex Cejka and Martin Kaymer shared second place with the English pair of Ian Poulter and Justin Rose. The Irish settled for fourth place with three other nations.
"We had no mojo," McDowell said. "We didn't make anything. We had two of probably the best breaks we had all year on the two par 5s and we made 6 off both of them. Disappointed right now and it will hurt this evening, but no biggy."
"Foursomes, it's a difficult format," McIlroy said. "You know, if you lose your rhythm slightly, it's very hard to get it back. You can go a few holes without hitting an iron shot or a few holes without hitting a putt."
EUROPEAN TOUR
Gareth Maybin earned a share of 51st place in the SA Open Championship at Serengeti Golf Club in Ekurhuleni, South Africa. Maybin shot 1-under-par 287 (69-73-71-74) to finish 13 strokes in back of the victorious Hennie Otto.
Maybin, who needs to scrape together every last euro he can in the hopes of salvaging his Tour card for 2012, just made the cut by a single stroke. His double bogey at 18 on Sunday to finish the tournament may end up being very costly. He currently stands 120th on the money list, a drop of one position from when he teed off on Thursday. He's banked €241,480 this season; currently in 115th place, the final qualifying spot for 2012, is Markus Brier with €258,513 (Damien McGrane, who did not play last week, is 114th with €258,939).
Both Maybin and McGrane are due to tee off in this week's UBS Hong Kong Open, as will McIlroy, Padraig Harrington, Michael Hoey and Peter Lawrie. The last named needs to improve or maintain his tenuous grasp on the 60th and final position on the Road to Dubai, so as to qualify for the season-ending event in Dubai next week. As for Harrington, he needs to ascend from his position in 67th place in order to earn Dubai credentials.
AUSTRALIAN TOUR
Darren Clarke finished 54th in the Australian PGA Championship at the Hyatt Regency Coolum in Queensland. His score of 291 (69-73-79-70) was three strokes over par for 72 holes and left him 15 strokes off the low number, which was occupied by Greg Chalmers, Robert Allenby and Marcus Fraser, with Chalmers winning the playoff.
That 79 found Clarke staggering with three double bogeys and two bogeys against just a single birdie.
