Thomases dispel all doubt

TEAM Australia could not have played much better but walked away from the World Cup cursing an ugly Friday front nine as a couple of Belgian Toms secured the title and a $3 million pay day.

Three shots was the final margin of victory for Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry, with the Aussie duo of Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith tied for second with Mexico.

The Aussies shot an equallow round of 65 yesterday in a stirring fight to the finish and spent time during the final day within two shots of the lead.

Three straight birdies on the back nine had the raucous crowd at Metropolitan issuing “Oi, Oi, Ois” the leaders could hear.

But the six-shot deficit the home team started the day with proved too big to reel in and a calm four-under 68 was enough for the Belgians, who have known each other since they were kids and played like it, to secure their country’s first World Cup win.

“We weren’t far away in the soccer World Cup, so it’s pretty good to bring it back,” Detry, 25, said, with a Belgian flag draped over his shoulders.

Pieters, his country’s topranked player, said he was nervous before he teed off, and the noise ahead of him as the Aussies made birdies gave him plenty to think about. “You can hear the ‘Oi, Oi, Oi’ chants going, so you know somebody made a birdie,” he said. .

“We saw them at 19, 20 [under]. I think we went back from 23 to 22, so a two-shot lead with two holes to go. It’s not a massive lead, but like I said, we made birdie on 16 and I think coming down the last with a two-shot lead, you feel a bit more comfortable.

“I told my mom and dad it’s been a long time since I won and this feels as good as an individual title. I’m very, very happy.”

A collect of just over $660,000 for each of the Aussies was a solid four-day return but, if not for two bogeys and a double on Friday morning when the rain was coming in sideways, it could have been much more.

The Belgians carved out a 71 in the horrid conditions, the Aussies a 76. The final margin was three shots. “I think we played pretty good golf. We fought it out on Friday. You know, to come back from I think we were, what, 6 over at one point, 7 over?” Leishman said. “To fight back like that and keep ourselves in it … we did that.

“Belgium was clearly the best team all week. When you come up against someone like that, we did what we had to do today to put the pressure on and they were just too good.”

One half of the Mexican duo, Abraham Ancer, ended his two-week Aussie stint nearly $1 million richer, after he stormed to a five-shot victory at the Australian Open a week ago.