KIAWAH ISLAND, South Carolina, 18 November 2003 — They may not have been an obvious choice for the South African line-up but Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman claimed a clear-cut victory in the World Cup on Sunday.
Ernie Els and Retief Goosen would have been South Africa’s first choice pairing.
But with the duo on President’s Cup duty this week in their homeland, Sabbatini and Immelman proved able substitutes, highlighting the country’s impressive strength in depth. Concentrating their efforts on achieving pars, the young pair shot a one-over-par 73 around the difficult Ocean Course to hold off England by four shots.
Having gained a seven-shot advantage over France and the United States on Saturday, Sabbatini and Immelman were determined not to slip up on the final day.
“Obviously you can never really say that you’ve got it in the bag,” Sabbatini, 27, said.
“It’s a situation you have to go out there and finish every hole until you’re done. I was pretty certain with four holes to go that we had put ourselves in a really good position.
“If we stuck with what we were doing and didn’t make any blatantly stupid errors out there we were fine.”
South Africa triumphed for the fifth time in the 50-year history of the event, lifting the World Cup again after Els and Goosen last won the title in 2001. Both Sabbatini and the 23-year-old Immelman have enjoyed success in their young careers. Sabbatini has two victories on the US PGA Tour while Immelman claimed his maiden win on the European Tour in January’s South African Open.
Sabbatini said: “I think the biggest thing that will come from today is Trevor and I knowing that we have the ability to go out there and win and to be successful out there.” He also felt it would underline South Africa’s golfing strength, telling reporters: “It’s definitely a country that is going to continue to produce good golfers... who are going to be out there contending for the top spots in the world rankings.”
Meanwhile, England’s Justin Rose and Paul Casey showed on Sunday that they might be a formidable twosome in future Ryder Cup matches. The pair combined to shoot a five-under par 67 and finished second at the World Golf Championship-World Cup at The Ocean Course, which hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup. Rose and Casey, who formed the youngest pairing in the 23-team field with a combined age of 49, shot rounds of 66 and 67 at the weekend after opening the week with a pair of 73s.
“If we both play well enough to be back we’ve proved a very strong partnership,” said Rose of a pairing that finished third at last year’s World Cup.
“I think this weekend we really gelled well together and backed each other up when we needed backing up and it was fantastic.”
Delasin Beats Han in Playoff at Tournament of Champions
In Mobile, Alabama, Dorothy Delasin simultaneously ended her birdie and victory droughts.
Delasin birdied the first playoff hole Sunday to defeat South Korea’s Hee-Won Han at the Mobile LPGA Tournament of Champions and claim her first win in more than two years. Unable to make birdie over the last seven holes in regulation, Delasin was growing increasingly frustrated.
“I was getting pretty ticked off, but Clint (caddie Clint Begay) was like, ‘Just keep making putts and keep swinging good because you’re swinging it well,’” Delasin said. “Clint was like, ‘Just par out. Par is your friend.’ So I said, OK.”
Playing the 18th hole for the second time, Delasin hit a wedge to eight feet and made the putt for her fourth career win and first since the Samsung World Championship in October 2001.
“It’s been a hard (two years), so to be in contention and to win this tournament, I feel like I belong,” said Delasin, who broke on the scene in 2000 with a victory at the age of 19. “Even though I’ve won three times before, I feel like this win is saying, ‘Hey, I’m Dorothy and I’m still here.’“
Delasin carded a three-under-par 69 but was caught at eight-under 280 by Han, who closed with a 68 that included a 32 on the back nine. “A 32 on the back nine is a perfect score for me,” said Han, who was seeking her third win of the year and second in a playoff. “Dorothy played well, especially on the 17th hole. She made the putt in the playoff and I just missed.”
England’s Laura Davies also just missed, falling one shot short of the playoff after a seven-under 65 that was the best score of the weekend at the Magnolia Groves Crossing course. “I think if I had putted like I had been and hit a few more greens, it would have been good enough,” said Davies, who has gone more than two years since her last win. “A 64 probably would have been good enough for a playoff.” South Korean Grace Park and Australian Rachel Teske tied for fourth at six-under while defending champion Se Ri Pak of South Korea finished seven shots back at one-under 287.
