PGATOUR.COM - Final three countries qualify for World Cup

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Nov. 23, 2008

Guatemala's Alejandro Villavicencio and Pablo Acuña showcased the best of their golf to lead the field at the Marriott Venezuela Playa Grande Nations Cup and secure one of the final three spots in the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

Their victory was historic for a team from the region of Central America and secured them a ticket to China along with the teams of Mexico and Venezuela, which finished second and third respectively.

The trio of countries completed the field for the US $5,5 million Omega Mission Hills World Cup, to be played by 28 two-man teams at Missions Hills, China, from November 27-30.

The young Guatemalan duo started the day tied for the lead with Venezuela, but pulled away with four birdies on the front nine to grab the outright lead for good. On the last nine holes of the final round, played under the format of alternate shot foursomes, they stayed in control to post a 67 and close their brilliant week at 22-under par 262, four strokes clear of their closest rival.

"This is something huge for us and for golf in our country," said Villavicencio, who joins his partner as the only touring pros in Guatemala, a nation with five golf courses and two thousand-plus players where top professional golf was introduced back in 2002 when the Tour de las Americas sanctioned its first of several events there.

Villavicencio, 28, and Acuña, 24, arrived at the Caracas CC full of confidence after the valuable experience of being in contention during the first half of this same event last year in Aruba.

"Last year I was just starting my career as a professional and we were somewhat surprised to be in contention in only our first time as a team at this event. We played poorly during the second half, but it turned out to be a great learning experience and it paid off only a year later," said Acuña, a tiny but strong player who honed his golf skills at the University of Houston, where he graduated last year.

Mexico's Daniel De León and Oscar Serna eagled the par-five No 9 to recover from a slow start of one-over par on the first eight holes. On the back nine they shot even-par, with birdies on 11 and 12, and bogeys on 14 and 15, for a one-under par 70 which secured them the second spot at 18-under par 266.

"Those two bogeys we made on 14 and 15 got us a little worried," admitted De León, "Fortunately, play was suspended (for an hour because of a lightning treat) and we were able to regroup and reclaim control to finish well."

While De León will be making his first WC appearance, his partner Oscar Serna was ecstatic about going back to an event he played once back in 1997.

"The fact that I'm going back to the World Cup with such a friend and great player as Daniel makes it even more special. We are going to put our hearts into this event in order to do as best as we can to make Mexico proud," said Serna, a 14-year professional who only turned 30 last Sunday.

A comfortable second place holder thought the first half of the day, the Venezuelan team of Raúl Sanz and Miguel Martínez struggled on an erratic back nine of three bogeys. Their last bogey came at the par-five 18.

After a wayward tee shot, supported by the local fans, the Venezuelans managed to save the clinching bogey to card a three-over par 74 and grab the third World Cup berth at 17-under par 267 for the week.

"It was such a gripping ending for us, but we were able to survive and that's what matters," commented the 26-year old Sanz, who dreamed of playing the World Cup since he was a teenager.

Only a stroke out of the qualifying top three, the fourth spot was shared by Colombia's Juan Martín Hoyos and Álvaro Pinedo, 71 today, and by Brazil's Rafael Barcellos and Philippe Gasnier, 70. The Argentineans were the other team entering the day with a chance to make it to China, but Rafael Gómez and Rodolfo González were unable to excel in the foursomes format. Their final round 73 left them far behind at 13-under 271.

The Marriott Venezuela Playa Grande Nations Cup was conducted by the Tour de las Americas on behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours.

Including the three Latin American teams, the field for the World Cup is:

Australia (Richard Green, Brendan Jones)

Canada (Wes Heffernan and Graham DeLaet)

Chile (Felipe Aquilar, Mark Tullo)

China (Liang Wen-chong, TBC)

Chinese Taipei (Wen-Tang Lin, Wen-Teh Lu)

Denmark (Søren Hansen, Anders Hansen)

England (Ian Poulter, Ross Fisher)

Finland (Roope Kakko and Mikko Korhonen)

France (Gregory Havret, Gregory Bourdy)

Germany (Martin Kaymer, Alex Cejka)