Sweden in stunning World Cup win-Golf

Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson overturned a three-shot deficit to seal a dramatic World Cup victory for Sweden at Mission Hills in China.

The Swedes scored a nine-under 63 to see off Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal.

Japan and Australia tied for third, while England's Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher carded 67 to end in sixth, 12 shots off the pace.

Defending champions Scotland, led by Colin Montgomerie, were 20 shots back.

Sweden, pre-tournament favourites, started the final day four behind Spain, but five early birdies fired them up the leaderboard.

Karlsson and Stenson, the two highest-ranked players in the event, were in blistering form and pulled into the outright lead with four more birdies on the back nine to finish on 27-under.

Joint overnight leaders Australia carded a disappointing 76 to finish eight shots behind the winners, level with Japanese pairing Ryuji Imada and Toru Taniguchi.

It was the second World Cup win for Sweden after Per-Ulrik Johansson and Anders Forsbrand's 1991 triumph in Rome.

Stenson, who despite enjoying a fine season in 2008 failed to secure any victories, said: "I thought it was our turn today.

"I was starting to run out of tournaments, so it was nice to win this one. It has been a while.

"This is my third last. So I've got two more to go in South Africa. But winning for Sweden is nice."

After a strong finish by England, Poulter was left to rue missed opportunities, after being unable to match their third-round 63.

"We should have had a chance to win this golf tournament. That's what we come here for," Poulter said.

"It didn't happen on Thursday and Friday and that's just such a shame to be so far out of the picture."

Ireland's Paul McGinley and Graeme McDowell suffered their worst round of the tournament with a five-over 77 to drop to 16th.

Scotland's Montgomerie and Alastair Forsyth were unable to defend the World Cup to finish seven-under-par, tied for 19th place.