DONGGUAN, China -- Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson produced a magnificent three-stroke victory for Sweden at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup after shooting a nine-under-par 63 in the final round foursomes on Sunday.

Four shots off the lead at the start of the day, the Swedes charged up the leaderboard with a stunning front nine of 31 in the alternate shot format to draw level with Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal before racing home for Sweden's second World Cup triumph, with four more birdies giving them a winning total of 27 under par 261.

The Spaniards settled for second place after a 70 while joint overnight leaders Australia, represented by Brendan Jones and Richard Green, finished equal third with Japan after slipping back with a 76.

Ryuji Imada and Toru Taniguchi were Asia's best finishers for Japan, a 68 putting them alongside Australia at the conclusion of the US$5.5 million Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

Sweden's only victory in the World Cup was recorded in 1991 through Per-Ulrik Johansson and Anders Forsbrand but Karlsson, ranked sixth in the world, and the 12th ranked Stenson lived up to their top billing at Mission Hills by saving their best for last.

"It means a great deal win for the country," said Karlsson. "This has always been an event in Sweden that's been big. It's quite a new country for golf, and to play for your country is great. I just hope this tournament can keep getting better by the years.

"If you look on the trophy, there's many impressive pairings on there. I hope we can look back on it in the future and say the same about us playing here."

Stenson added: "It's a great honour to play for your country, and obviously even better when you win. So we have had a fantastic week. Sweden only won it once before in 1991. So it was about time that we changed that and got our name up there again, and I hope we can continue."

The victory continues an incredible year for Swedish golf and for Karlsson in particular, who a few weeks ago became the first Swede to finish European Tour Number One. He said they knew that a low round in the more challenging foursomes format was always on the cards after Spain produced a 63 on Friday.

"We thought it might be our turn today. We knew we needed to play better than yesterday. It was important for us to pick up a few shots early which we did," said Karlsson, who was making his third World Cup appearance but partnering Stenson for the first time.

Unlike Friday's session where Spain produced the day's best, Jimenez and Larrazabal failed to fire on all cylinders in the final round, turning in 35 before shooting two more birdies against a lone bogey at the closing hole.

Jimenez said: "We didn't hole the putts today, and I missed the fairway on the par fives and we needed to make birdies on the par fives. That's the game. We just didn't make under par and didn't win."

Larrazabal, the 2008 Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year in Europe, said: "We didn't play like the first and second rounds, but still it was a good performance and a great tournament for us. But you know, I wanted so badly to go home with the trophy, and I'm a little bit sad now."

The Australians stayed in the title hunt after making the turn in even par with two birdies against as many bogeys but another dropped shot on the 12th hole left them with an uphill task. Three closing bogeys saw them drop into a share of third place with Japan.

"Just didn't happen for us today," said Green. "We went out there with all of the right intentions and give it as good of a shot and tried our best and things didn't happen. We didn't have too many opportunities, unfortunately. It was just a bit of a struggle most of the day."

Imada, who won once on the US PGA Tour this year, holed out from the bunker for an eagle on the 15th hole as Japan enjoyed a strong finish. "He (Taniguchi) made a birdie putt on 14, and I got a little bit lucky and holed out a bunker shot on 15. We made a good save on 17 and a solid par on 18. It was a great finish. We played really well for foursomes, but I think we let a few get away in the four‑ball," he said.

China's Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong shot a 72 for a 280 total and settled for a share of 17th place with India.

Final scores

261: Sweden (Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson) 65-67-66-63 US$1.7 million
264: Spain (Miguel Angel Jimenez, Pablo Larrazabal) 64-63-67-70 US$900,000
270: Japan (Ryuji Imada, Toru Taniguchi) 66-68-68-68, Australia (Richard Green, Brendan Jones) 63-68-63-76 US$429,000
272: Germany (Martin Kaymer, Alex Cejka) 62-69-68-73 US$230,000
273: England (Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher) 69-74-63-67 US$200,000
274: South Africa (Rory Sabbatini, Richard Sterne) 70-70-67-67, Thailand (Prayad Marksaeng, Thongchai Jaidee) 69-73-64-68 US$155,000
275: USA (Ben Curtis, Brandt Snedeker) 64-69-69-73 US$125,000
276: Chile (Felipe Aguilar, Mark Tullo) 67-76-66-67, France (Gregory Havret, Gregory Bourdy) 68-75-62-71, Philippines (Angelo Que, Marciano Pucay) 67-72-65-72 US$96,667
277: Portugal (Tiago Cruz, Ricardo Santos) 67-73-67-70, Canada (Graham Delaet, Wes Heffernan) 64-71-69-73, Denmark (Soren Hansen, Anders Hansen) 65-75-64-73 US$70,333
278: Ireland (Graeme McDowell, Paul McGinley) 65-68-68-77 US$64,000
280: India (Jeev Mikha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa) 67-72-70-71, China (Liang Wen-chong, Zhang Lian-wei) 69-75-64-72 US$61,000
281: Scotland (Alastair Forsyth, Colin Montgomerie) 68-73-68-72, Italy (Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari) 70-73-64-74 US$57,000
282: Finland (Roope Kakko, Mikko Korhonen) 69-70-68-75 US$54,000
283: Guatemala (Pablo Acuna, Alejandro Villavicencio) 69-76-66-72, New Zealand (Mark Brown, David Smail) 65-75-68-75 US$51,000
284: Chinese Taipei (Lin Wen-tang, Lu Wen-teh) 68-75-69-72 US$48,000
285: Wales (Bradley Dredge, Richard Johnson) 69-77-68-71 US$46,000
287: Korea (Bae Sang-moon, Kim Hyung-tae) 68-70-71-78 US$44,000
288: Mexico (Daniel De Leon, Osca Serna) 66-77-71-74 US$42,000
294: Venezuela (Miguel Martinez, Raul Sanz) 71-74-75-74 US$40,000

Note: Fourball used in first and third rounds, Foursomes in second and final rounds.

To assist with your coverage of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup this week, you can download free images from www.owc08.com

ABOUT OMEGA:
The prestige watch manufacturer OMEGA was founded in Switzerland in 1848 and since then has continually set the pace in the many fields of watchmaking, from sports timekeeping and design awards to watches for professional use in space or underwater. OMEGA is closely associated with a world of achievements including the conquest of space, timekeeping at 23 Olympic Games and numerous precision records as well as the launch in 1999 of the revolutionary Co-Axial calibre, one of the 20th century's major innovations in mechanical watchmaking designed with the English master watchmaker George Daniels. Having just finished the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, OMEGA will continue to be the Official Timekeeper for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.

ABOUT MISSION HILLS GOLF CLUB, CHINA:
Founded in 1994, Mission Hills Golf Club, China, seeks to create 'international goodwill through golf'. The Club occupies over 20 square kilometres of land from Shenzhen to Dongguan in Southern China, and boasts 12 signature courses designed by golf legends from five continents: Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Jumbo Ozaki, Zhang Lian-Wei, José Maria Olazábal, David Leadbetter, Greg Norman, Annika Sorenstam, David Duval, Nick Faldo and Pete Dye. In light of this feat, the Club was accredited by the Guinness World RecordsTM as the World's Largest Golf Facility. Besides, Mission Hills is the host venue for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup of Golf from 2007 to 2018.

As a complete golf destination, the Club houses a five-star hotel, four luxury clubhouses, world-class spa, three golf academies managed by international elite golf coaches, and palatial residences. It was voted "Golf Resort of the Year" in the Rest of the World Category in 2005 by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO). The Olazábal Course, the proud venue of the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup in 2008, has been ranked the number one resort course in Asia by Golfing Magazine in the 2008 issue.

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL GOLF ASSOCIATION:
Established by Canadian industrialist John Jay Hopkins in 1953, the International Golf Association has pursued the mission of "International Goodwill through Golf" for over fifty years. As the owner of the World Cup name, IGA has sanctioned the world's most prestigious international team golf competition throughout six decades. IGA is governed by its Board of Directors, which includes Chairman Jonathan S. Linen (Advisor to the Chairman, American Express), Deane R. Beman (Former PGA TOUR Commissioner), J. B. McCoy (Retired Chairman, Bank One Corporation) and Bill Souders (Former Executive Vice-President and Director, Xerox Corporation).

ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PGA TOURS:
The International Federation of PGA Tours, formed in 1996, was created to enhance the competitive structure of professional golf worldwide while preserving the traditions and strengths of the six member Tours. The member Tours are the Asian Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Southern Africa Tour. The Canadian Tour and the Tour de las Americas are Associate Members of the Federation. Three major initiatives were outlined: the formation of the International Federation of PGA Tours; joint sanctioning by the members of the International Federation of PGA Tours of significant competitions for the game's top players; and a structure for a generally accepted worldwide ranking system.

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