Denmark win maiden World Cup of Golf title

Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen guided Denmark to their first ever success at the weekend in the World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, Australia. The Danish pair finished the tournament on -20, four shots clear of USA, France and China who were all tied in second place on -16.

Olesen and Kleldsen got their hands on the trophy following a round of 66 in the final four-balls of the competition. They had seven birdies on their card and one bogey to end the day with the same four-shot advantage as they had when they started out on Sunday morning.

As predicted in the Oddschecker preview of the event, the Denmark team took full advantage of the firm and windy conditions at the Kingston Health Golf Club. Both players continued their excellent run of form and proved their expertise in links golf.

Kjeldsen won the Irish Open in 2015 at the tricky links course that is Royal County Down, while Olesen prevailed in the 2015 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship which is played across St Andrews (Old Course), Carnoustie and Kingsbarns, and the pair used all their experience in Melbourne to be the best placed pairing.

Denmark’s previous best finish in the World Cup of Golf was in 2001 where they were runners-up when represented by Thomas Bjorn and Soren Hansen. That pair were beaten to the title by South Africa’s Ernie Els and Retief Goosen who won a dramatic four team sudden-death play-off which also included New Zealand and United States.

Kjeldsen was playing in his sixth renewal of the event this year in Australia, while it was only Olesen’s third appearance in this competition. They shot an incredible 12-under 60 on Friday to put themselves at the top of the leaderboard from very early into the tournament.

The pressure was though on the Danish pair at the start of the back nine on Sunday as their lead was trimmed to just a single shot as the American duo of Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker, who were in striking range before the winners pulled away again.

Olesen made sure of the victory on the final hole with a birdie to seal the success with a total of 268 for the four-rounds. The win in Melbourne will give both players confidence going into the new season on the European Tour which begins this week with the Alfred Dunhill Championship at the Leopard Creek Country Club in Mpumalanga, South Africa.