Norway and Holland secured their place in the World Golf Championships – EMC² World Cup after both teams finished in the top six in the Davidoff Nations Cup at Royal Selangor Golf Club in Malaysia.
Norway, represtened by Henrik Björnstad and Per Haugsrud, finished in joint second place alongside the hosts Malaysia, just one stroke behind China, while the Dutch team of Maarten Lafeber and Robert Jan Derksen shared fifth place to book their place in Japan.
The top six teams in the Davidoff Nations Cup qualified for the WGC – EMC² World Cup, and they will join the 18 seeded nations already exempt at The Taiheiyo Club in Japan on November 15-18. Joining China, Norway, Malaysia and Holland from the Davidoff Nations Cup will be Mexico, who finished fourth and the Philippines who finished tied fifth with Holland.
In a pulsating final round that was disrupted by a two and half hour rain delay, the Chinese duo of Zhang Lian-wei and Liang Wen-chong shot a five under par 67 in the foursomes for a 23 under par 265 aggregate.
The local charge led by Periasamy Gunasegaran and Danny Chia carded a one under par 71 while Norwegians missed a 12 foot birdie chance at the 18th hole to force a play-off as they closed with a 70 and a 22 under par total of 266.
"We're relieved . we made some crucial putts in the back nine. It'll be my first World Cup and I'm looking forward to it. It'll be a great experience," said Björnstad, who has two top tens on The European Tour this season.
Zhang, winner of two titles on the Davidoff Tour, got the Chinese team off to a brilliant start when he holed a 20 foot birdie putt at the opening hole. Liang obliged with eight foot putts at the second
and third, while Zhang delivered the team's fourth birdie at the sixth to set them on their way to victory.
"It's such a pleasure to win the Davidoff Nations Cup," said Liang. "We now have the opportunity to compete against the world's best players in the World Cup and I can't wait for that."
When crunch time came at Royal Selangor's Old Course, the teams from Mexico, Philippines and Holland delivered the goods. Octavio Gonzalez and Alejandro Quiroz went eagle-birdie-eagle from the 11th hole to card a 67 for fourth place.
Danny Zarate holed a 25 foot birdie at the last as he and partner Rodrigo Cuello earned joint fifth place for the Philippines alongside the Dutch team.
Hong Kong's Dominique Boulet and Derek Fung finished in seventh place after shooting a fine 68 to be the first reserve for the WGC – EMC World Cup. Germany's Alex Cejka and Thomas Gogele claimed the second reserve slot after coming in eighth with a closing 71. Singapore, with Mardan Mamat and Lam Chih Bing in the team, beat Korea and Taiwan in the first play-off hole to secure the third alternate spot.
Final round scores
265 - CHINA
(ZHANG Lian-wei, LIANG Wen-chong) 62,70,66,67
266 - MALAYSIA
(Danny CHIA, P. Gunasegaran) 66,66,63,71
266 - NORWAY
(Per HAUGSRUD, Henrik BJORNSTAD) 60,72,64,70
267 - MEXICO
(Octavio GONZALEZ, Alejandro QUIROZ) 62,74,64,67
269 - PHILIPPINES
(Rodrigo CUELLO, Danny ZARATE) 64,70,66,69
269 - HOLLAND (
Maarten LAFEBER, Robert JAN DERKSEN) 63,74,62,70
----------QUALIFIERS--------------------
271 - HONG KONG
(Dominique BOULET, Derek FUNG) 66,70,67,68
272 - GERMANY
(Alex CEJKA, Thomas GOGELE) 64,72,65,71
273 - TAIWAN
(CHUNG Chun-hsing, HONG Chia-yuh) 65,71,65,72
273 - KOREA
(CHOI Gwang-soo, KANG Wook-soon) 66,69,65,73
273 - SINGAPORE
(Mardan MAMAT, LAM Chih Bing) 67,69,64,73
276 - MYANMAR
(Kyi Hla HAN, Zaw MOE) 65,76,66,69
277 - CHILE,
(Felipe AGUILAR, Guillermo ENCINA) 64,74,67,72
277 - BRAZIL
(Joao CORTEIZ, Ronaldo FRANCISCO) 62,75,67,73
282 - PAKISTAN
(Muhammad SHABBIR, Matloob AHMED) 69,73,67,73
282 - JAMAICA
(Brian GREEN, Delroy CAMBRIDGE) 70,72,64,76
283 - THAILAND
(Bunlue MANEERAT, Suthep BUNPIMUCK) 67,71,68,77
284 - COLOMBIA
(Jesus AMAYA, Angel ROMERO) 70,75,67,72
285 - SWITZERLAND
(Franco LI PUMA, Jonathan SCHAEPPER) 69,76,67,73
289 - ITALY
(Costantino ROCCA, Baldovino DASSU) 71,75,70,73
290 - SLOVENIA
(Daniel KRALJIC, Janez GRILC) 65,81,70,74
291 - INDIA
(Gaurav GHEI, Mukesh KUMAR) 68,77,65,81
292 - NEPAL
(Deepak THAPA MAGER, Deepak ACHARYA) 67,80,68,77
293 - FINLAND
(Kim WIIK, Sakari AHO) 69,78,72,74
296 - MAURITIUS
(Billy NARRAINA, Vishnoo SEENEEVASSEN) 73,76,69,78
301 - POLAND,
(Marcin STELMASIAK, Jan LUBIENIECKI) 69,74,73,85
