Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren won the World Cup with a play-off victory over the United States at Mission Hills in China. The world cup win is Scotland’s first in the 54-year history of the event.
The Scottish pairing sealed victory when Boo Weekley missed a 15-foot par putt on the third extra hole.
The win made up for the heartbreak of last year when the Scottish pair lost a World Cup play-off against Germany.
"It was fantastic, after missing out last year to come here and win is superb," said Montgomerie.
Scotland were favourites to claim victory in regulation after a final round 66 left them on 25-under-par but the American pairing of Heath Slocum and Weekley, who had led after the opening three days, carded a crucial birdie at the last to force the play off.
On the first extra hole, Montgomerie found sand from his tee shot with Warren also firing into a bunker with the second.
Montgomerie chipped to within 10 feet and after Slocum missed a birdie putt that would have sealed victory, Warren held his nerve to keep the tie alive.
Both teams parred the second play-off hole before Weekley failed to sink a tricky putt on the third to hand Scotland a memorable victory.
"There was pressure to come back after a play-off loss," said Montgomerie. "This is superb. We look forward to coming back and trying to defend the trophy.
"We are really proud. Marc was fantastic. He holed some great putts under pressure especially the one in the first hole of the play-off. We were favourites from then on."
Warren, winner of the Johnnie Walker Championship earlier in the year, said Montgomerie was immense in the alternate foursomes format.
"In this format he is the ideal partner," he said. "If you hit a bad shot you can rely on him to hole a putt or hit a good tee shot. Every time we made a mistake we bounced "To have the opportunity to play with a golfer who has been there, seen it and done it all is an honour for me. He is a person I can learn from, I have learnt again this week and I am sure next time I play with him I will learn again.
"He is a great player and a great person to boot, someone I thoroughly enjoy being around – a person who likes to win and really that is what this game is all about."
The American duo of Weekley, ranked 43rd, and Slocum, ranked 70th, only got their chance after their higher-ranked compatriots turned down the opportunity to play and they said they thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
It was a great week," said Weekley. "It is an honour to be able to come over here and represent your country and play. "We were not even supposed to be here and that is even more of a bonus. We feel disappointed with how we finished but it was a great week."
The French pairing of Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret claimed third place on 24-under-par thanks to a faultless final-round 67 which contained five birdies.
England’s Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, who had started the day two shots behind the United States, never really threatened to capture a third World Cup success.
Rose did putt for an eagle on the ninth 9th but two bogeys on the front nine proved damaging as they carded a 67.
"I think we did well to score what we did considering we made some mistakes out there," said Rose.
"Every time we made a mistake we bounced back brilliantly with a birdie or an eagle but the mistakes proved costly."
The Welsh pairing of Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge finished tied for 22nd on eight under with Ireland’s Gareth Maybin and Michael Hoey finishing one shot further adrift.
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