Poulter and Rose fail with late flurry of birdies as England beaten by USA

Starting the foursomes two behind overnight leaders Ireland, Kuchar and Woodland carded six birdies and a bogey at the Mission Hills Resort on Hainan Island to finish 24 under par and lift the trophy for a 24th time.

England enjoyed a strong finish to the tournament as Ian Poulter and Justin Rose returned a 63 that featured an eagle, eight birdies and a bogey to end 22 under, tied for second with Germany, who posted a 69.

Irish duo Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell, meanwhile, could only produce an even-par 72 as they missed out on the last day for the second consecutive time after finishing runners-up to Italy in 2009, their score of 21 under par leaving them in a tie for fourth with Scotland, Holland and Australia.

After ending America’s 11-year wait for the title following Tiger Woods and David Duval’s victory in 2000, Kuchar told reporters: “When I got selected to represent the United States in the World Cup, I also got to choose my partner, and I knew it was going to be a great honour to come here to play for the United States, and I thought that if I picked the right partner, I’d have a real shot at winning the title.

“And I chose Gary Woodland, thinking that he would team up well with me, we would have the best shot of winning this title, and he played fantastic this week.”

Hennie Otto produced the biggest birdie of his career to win his home South African Open by a shot at Serengeti.

The 35-year-old, without a top-five finish on the European Tour since he captured the 2008 Italian Open, was three clear of Austrian Bernd Wiesberger with six holes to play.

But Otto showed his nerves by failing to get out of a fairway bunker on the 13th, coming up short of the green at the 183-yard 15th and then duffing a chip on the par-five next. All three mistakes led to bogeys and all of a sudden they were level.

But, with Wiesberger already in the clubhouse, Otto drove the downwind 375-yard 17th, chipped to six feet and made the birdie putt. There was still the water on the last to negotiate, but off a perfect drive he found the green and by two-putting for par took the title with a closing 72 and 14 under total of 274.

He is the sixth South African to win on the European circuit this season, following Ernie Els, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel (2), Thomas Aiken and Garth Mulroy.