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Tournament Navigation 
| On final day, Spain struggled in foursomes formattext size    Franklin/Getty Images Pablo Larrazabal (right) and Miguel Angel Jimenez line up a putt on the fifth hole during the final round. 
Nov. 30, 2008 By Laury Livsey, PGA TOUR Staff DONGGUAN, CHINA -- Brilliant foursomes play Friday vaulted Spain into the lead at the halfway point of the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup. The foursomes magic the team of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal experienced Friday on the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills Golf Club wasn't there Sunday, as the team waited until the seventh hole to record its first birdie and could only muster two more the entire day. The duo also added a bogey for the final-round, 2-under 70.  Walton/Getty Images Henrik Stenson
Meanwhile, Sweden was playing its final round the same way Spain did in the second round. The pairing of Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson birdied all the odd-numbered holes on the front nine in the alternate-shot format, added four more birdies on the back nine and cruised to a 9-under 63 and a three-shot victory over Spain. "We didn't hole the putts today, and I missed the fairways on the par 5s from the tee," said Jimenez. "And we needed to make birdies on the par 5s." After the round, Jimenez and Larrazabal, who played in the last group with the Australian team of Richard Green and Brendan Jones, signed their cards and then waited for the trophy presentation to end so they could congratulate Karlsson and Stenson. While Spain was disappointed in the finish, it didn't stop Jimenez from lighting a cigar and joining Larrazabal as they posed for photos with dignitaries and the winning team. "We couldn't make any putts today. The only putt we made was mine on 17," said Larrazabal, a World Cup rookie. "We didn't play like the first and second round." In the opening 36 holes, Spain had 17 birdies, an eagle and two bogeys, giving Jimenez and Larrazabal a four-stroke lead at the halfway point. That lead disappeared in the third round when Australia caught up. Both teams went into Sunday's play with a four-stroke bulge over Sweden. It was a lead that wouldn't last -- for either team. "I wanted so bad to go home with the trophy, and I'm a little bit sad now," said Larrazabal, the son of a fish farmer who was named the European Tour's Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year on the strength of his 11th-place finish on the Order of Merit. "The best team today was Sweden, so congratulations to them." Jimenez, who also finished second in the 2004 World Cup when Sergio Garcia was his partner, still found the positive in his team's play. "The golf course is great. We were playing very well, and I have a very nice partner," Jimenez said. We didn't win the tournament, but apart from that a very fine week."
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