Sunday, October 19, 2008

SCOTS TEAM UP FOR WORLD TITLE

SCOTS TEAM UP FOR WORLD TITLE


Scotland completed an historic double by winning their first World Amateur Team Championship in Adelaide on Sunday.

After Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren won Scotland's first World Cup in November last year, Wallace Booth, Callum Macaulay and Gavin Dear secured the amateur crown to lift the Eisenhower Trophy with a nine-stroke victory.

The trio held a four-stroke lead over the United States going into the final day and held on in windy conditions to take the title.

Macaulay, who shot a one-under-par 72 on the Royal Adelaide Golf Club, said: "We set out to try to win but to go out and do it is unbelievable."

Macaulay's 72, combined with Dear's two-over 75, meant Scotland finished with a 20-under-par total of 560 for 72 holes. The Scots' final round 147 - one over par - was five strokes better than the United States' effort.

The American team finished second at 569 with Sweden third on 574.

USA captain Walter Driver admitted the Scots handled the conditions better.

"We got off to slow start and made some bogeys earlier and then we were really in a hole.

"There were very testing conditions with the wind blowing hard. Obviously, the Scots loved it. They played well."

Dear was in agreement.

"It helps because we feel we are all good wind players," he said. "It was good to have it blowing a mere gale and we know that par is a good score."

Scotland captain George Crawford said: "It is history in the making for a small nation as the home of golf.

"The way golf has developed on the continent means it's much more difficult to compete at this level. It's a historic occasion. It's tremendous."


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