Dongguan, China, November 28: Ireland, Sweden and Italy are set for a final round battle Royale at the Omega Mission Hills World Cup after the third round fourball left the three nations as the clear favourites to take the title on Saturday.

The Molinari brothers Edoardo and Francesco carded the joint-lowest round of the third day with Korea over the Olazábal Course, posting a brilliant 11-under-par 61 to move to 25-under par and into a share of second place with defending champions Sweden, who, thanks to the efforts of Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson, compiled a fine 62 to lie just one shot behind Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy.

Team Ireland’s third round effort of 64 was good enough for them to retain the lead for the third round.

The three contenders are all looking forward to what is shaping up to be a hugely exciting final round.

“It seems to be a three horse race obviously, one team on 26 under and two teams on 25,” said McDowell. “So barring any disaster in the foursomes, I can't see any other teams but the top three winning.”

“I think if everything was to go to plan and we were to win tomorrow, it would definitely be the biggest highlight of my golfing career so far.  You know, it's very special to win an event, but to win it with a partner and to win it with a friend would make it even more special,” added McIlroy.

Sweden are naturally confident of putting together a final round charge after their unforgettable charge to victory last year with a final round 63 in the foursomes.

“It was a great atmosphere playing in the last match with Ireland today,” said Karlsson. “We can draw on the memories of last year’s 63 but we have to go out there and get some birdies on the board early and get going from there because Ireland and Italy are very strong teams.”

Stenson is hoping that he and Karlsson can make a fast start in order to get their noses in front of the final grouping of Ireland and Italy.

He said: “It was great to play with the Irish boys today – it was almost like match play out there and I think both teams played well. But tomorrow is a different day and I am glad that we are not in the final group – we have a chance to steal a march on the guys behind us and that’s what we will be trying to do.”

The Molinaris enjoyed their best round of the week and will seek to win the Omega Mission Hills World Cup for the first time in the country’s history, their best finish being second in 1998 with the team of Massimo Florioli and Costantino Rocca.

“It's been a really good week, but today was probably the best day,” said Francesco. “We both played really consistent, good golf. It's been really good and we are in good position for tomorrow.  We just try to keep playing like this and see what happens tomorrow.”

“We played very well today.  He was probably a little bit better than I was today.  Both of us we managed to make a lot of birdies and hole the putts in the right moments.  It was definitely a good score out there today because the pins were quite difficult, and even the other teams are not shooting as low as the first round, so I think 61 today is a great score,” added Edoardo.

For further information, please contact Asian Tour’s Calvin Koh at the media centre tel: +86769 826 26248.

Third round scores (fourball)
190 –IRELAND (Graeme McDOWELL, Rory McILROY)            58-68-64
191 –ITALY (Edoardo MOLINARI, Francesco MOLINARI) 64-66-61, SWEDEN (Robert KARLSSON, Henrik STENSON) 64-65-62
197 - SOUTH AFRICA (Rory SABBATINI, Richard STERNE) 65-70-62, JAPAN (Hiroyuki FUJITA, Ryuji IMADA) 62-71-64
198 –ENGLAND (Ian POULTER, Ross FISHER) 66-69-63, WALES (Stephen DODD, Jamie DONALDSON) 66-68-64
199 –VENEZUELA (Alfredo ADRIAN, Jhonattan VEGAS) 67-67-65
200 –KOREA (Charlie WI,YANG Yong-eun) 64-75-61
200 –AUSTRALIA (Stuart APPLEBY, Robert ALLENBY) 68-70-           62, ARGENTINA (Tano GOYA, Rafael ECHENIQUE)  61-75-64, INDIA (Jyoti RANDHAWA, Jeev Milkha SINGH) 67-68-65
201 –CHILE (Hugo LEON, Martin URETA) 69-67-            65
202 –DENMARK (Soren KJELDSEN, Soren HANSEN) 66-70-66, SINGAPORE (LAM Chih Bing, Mardan MAMAT)        66-70-66
203 –CANADA (Graham DELAET, Stuart ANDERSON) 64-74-65, GERMANY (Alex CEJKA,          Martin KAYMER) 66-71-66
204 –PHILIPPINES (Mars PUCAY, Angelo QUE) 68-72-64, THAILAND (Prayad MARKSAENG, Thongchai JAIDEE) 67-70-         67, CHINA (ZHANG Lian-wei, LIANG Wen-chong) 65-71-68
205 -NEW ZEALAND (Danny LEE,            David SMAIL) 67-68-70
206 –SCOTLAND (David DRYSDALE, Alastair FORSYTH) 69-73-64, USA (Nick WATNEY, John MERRICK) 67-72-67
207 –FRANCE (Christian CEVAER,            Thomas LEVET) 67-73-67, SPAIN  (Gonzalo FDEZ-CASTANO, Sergio GARCIA) 69-71-        67
208 –PAKISTAN (Muhammad MUNIR, Muhammad SHABBIR) 69-75-64, CHINESE TAIPEI (LIN Wen-tang, LU Wei-chih) 67-74-67
211 -BRAZIL (Rafael BARCELLOS, Ronaldo FRANCISCO) 68-            75-68

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ABOUT OMEGA
The prestige watch manufacturer OMEGA was founded in Switzerland in 1848 and since then has continually set the pace in the many fields of watchmaking, from sports timekeeping and design awards to watches for professional use in space or underwater. OMEGA is closely associated with a world of achievements including the conquest of space, timekeeping at 23 Olympic Games and numerous precision records as well as the launch in 1999 of the revolutionary Co-Axial calibre, one of the 20th century’s major innovations in mechanical watchmaking designed with the English master watchmaker George Daniels. Having just finished the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, OMEGA will continue to be the Official Timekeeper for the Vancouver 2010 and London 2012 Olympic Games.
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ABOUT MISSION HILLS GOLF CLUB, CHINA
Founded in 1994, Mission Hills Golf Club, China, seeks to create ‘international goodwill through golf’. The Club occupies over 20 square kilometres of land from Shenzhen to Dongguan in Southern China, and boasts 12 signature courses designed by golf legends from five continents: Jack Nicklaus, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, Jumbo Ozaki, Zhang Lian-Wei, José Maria Olazábal, David Leadbetter, Greg Norman, Annika Sorenstam, David Duval, Nick Faldo and Pete Dye. In light of this feat, the Club was accredited by the Guinness World RecordsTM as the World’s Largest Golf Facility. Besides, Mission Hills is the host venue for the Omega Mission Hills World Cup of Golf from 2007 to 2018.

As a complete golf destination, the Club houses a five-star hotel, four luxury clubhouses, world-class spa, three golf academies managed by international elite golf coaches, and palatial residences. It was voted “Golf Resort of the Year” in the Rest of the World Category in 2005 by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO). The Olazábal Course, the proud venue of the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup in 2008, has been ranked the number one resort course in Asia by Golfing Magazine in the 2008 issue.
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ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL GOLF ASSOCIATION
Established by Canadian industrialist John Jay Hopkins in 1953, the International Golf Association has pursued the mission of "International Goodwill through Golf" for over fifty years.  As the owner of the World Cup name, IGA has sanctioned the world's most prestigious international team golf competition throughout six decades.  IGA is governed by its Board of Directors, which includes Chairman Jonathan S. Linen (Advisor to the Chairman, American Express), Deane R. Beman (Former PGA TOUR Commissioner), J. B. McCoy (Retired Chairman, Bank One Corporation) and Bill Souders (Former Executive Vice-President and Director, Xerox Corporation).
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ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF PGA TOURS
The International Federation of PGA Tours, formed in 1996, was created to enhance the competitive structure of professional golf worldwide while preserving the traditions and strengths of the six member Tours. The member Tours are the Asian Tour, European Tour, Japan Golf Tour, PGA TOUR, PGA Tour of Australasia and Southern Africa Tour. The Canadian Tour and the Tour de las Americas are Associate Members of the Federation.  Three major initiatives were outlined: the formation of the International Federation of PGA Tours; joint sanctioning by the members of the International Federation of PGA Tours of significant competitions for the game's top players; and a structure for a generally accepted worldwide ranking system.