IRISH DUO SHANE Lowry and Paul Dunne finished in a tie for 10th place at the World Cup of Golf, which was won by Belgium in the end.
Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry held off a late charge from the Australian team on home turf as they carded a four-under round of 68 to secure the title.
They started the day with a five-shot lead in Melbourne but dropped shots on the back nine led to a weaker finish than expected — 23-under for the tournament.
Australia’s Cameron Smith and Marc Leishman’s second-day 76 came back to bite them as they could only finish for second on 20-under despite powering up the leaderboard and a clean final round. Mexico joined them in that position.
Reigning champions Denmark finished tied for fourth alongside Canada while England duo Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter finished eighth, three shots ahead of Team Ireland, after an up-and-down few days for the Offaly and Wicklow natives.
Elsewhere, Leona Maguire finished well in her maiden Ladies European Tour (LET) event, the Andalucia Open de Espana – tied for 18th.
The Cavan native carded her best round of the weekend — a one-under 69 — to finish on one-over par. Maguire was forced to play 25 holes today after her third round was suspended due to darkness.
The 23-year-old newly-turned pro’s star continues to rise and she’ll now attempt to earn her European Tour card at the Tour School finals in Morocco in December.
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