Puerto Rico Leads the Way to the Omega Mission Hills World Cup

Puerto Rico's Wilfredo Morales and Miguel Su‡rez turned out to be the winners of The Omega Mission Hills World Cup Aruba Qualifier 2007, which came to and end today at the Tierra del Sol Resort.

The Puerto Rican duo carded a final day 2-under par 69 of alternate shot foursomes to finish the week at 11-under par 273. That final effort allowed them and to take the outright lead from Ireland's Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin, who carded a 71 to finish one stroke behind as the solo second.

A best-of-the-day Ðunder par 68 vaulted Colombia's Gustavo Mendoza and Jorge Benedetti into the solo third at 9-under par 275. The Colombians, tied for the ninth spot at even-par midway through the event, were by far the best team over the final 36 holes.

Paraguay, carding a 72 that included a double-bogey on the last hole, Italy, 72, and Venezuela, 71, finished in a tie for the eight spot at 8-under par 276 after a dramatic series of events that forced a playoff for the final two berths. With Venezuela missing a four-footer for par at the 73 rd hole, both Paraguay and Italy secured their own par putts to make the Omega Mission Hills World Cup.

"This is a great joy for us. We came here just trying to qualify, so it is very satisfying to finish as the best team," said an ecstatic Miguel Su‡rez, set to make his third World Cup appearance.

The Puerto Ricans started the day with consecutive birdies at the first and second, but found trouble with a double-bogey at the fourth and a bogey at the sixth. "After that we birdied the eight and the eleventh to fix it a little. Another birdie at 16 th allowed us to finish at 2-under for the day, which is a great score under these conditions," added Su‡rez, a 38-year old who turned pro back in 1995.

The winning duo played as a team in the 1996 World Cup in South Africa, at the time Morales, who is making his fourth World Cup, was still an amateur. "The last time Puerto Rico made it to the World Cup it was back in 1999. It's great to make it back to such an event like that, especially because Puerto Rico is having a PGA Tour event next season," commented Morales.

The Omega Mission Hills World Cup Aruba Qualifier 2007 was conducted by the Tour de las Americas on behalf of the International Federation of PGA Tours. The five teams qualifying here in Aruba made it into the 28-nation field that will compete for a US$5 million prize purse at Mission Hills, China, November 22-25.

Photo From left to right the five teams qualifying in Aruba: Edoardo and Francesco Molinari of Italy, Jorge Benedetti and Gustavo Mendoza of Colombia, Carlos Franco and Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay, Miguel Su‡rez and Wilfredo Morales of Puerto Rico, Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin of Ireland. Photo by Enrique Berardi, Tour de las Americas.

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