Denmark beat Australia in final to win inaugural GolfSixes title

Thorbjorn Olesen and Lucas Bjerregaard claimed victory for Denmark in the inaugural GolfSixes after a hard-fought victory over Australia in the final.

Olesen, who partnered Soren Kjeldsen to glory in the World Cup of Golf last year, was the senior member of the Danish team at Centurion this weekend as they followed 2-1 wins over France and Italy with a 3-1 triumph over Scott Hend and Sam Brazel.

The Danes trailed 1-0 after three holes, but the Australian pair then bogeyed the fourth and were unable to match Denmark's birdie at the fifth, although Olesen enjoyed a huge slice of good fortune at the last when he pushed his second to the par five and his ball pulled up inches short of the water.

Bjerregaard clipped a delightful chip to four feet before Hend raced his eagle putt from the rear fringe six feet past the cup and Brazel was unable to make the return for birdie, forcing the Aussies to concede the match with Denmark having two putts for the win.

The close final wrapped up an entertaining two days packed full of innovation enjoyed by good crowds at the Hemel Hempstead venue, with all of the 32 players from 16 nations full of praise for the tournament and its concept.

Hopes of a home victory were scuppered early on Sunday as England's Chris Wood and Andy Sullivan were ousted by the young Italian team of Matteo Manassero and Renato Paratore, with the latter rolling in a 15-foot putt for eagle on the final hole to clinch a 2-1 win.

Denmark also eagled the sixth to edge out the highly-fancied France pair of Alexander Levy, winner of the Volvo China Open last week, and Gregory Bourdy, while a tense tussle between Australia and Thailand became the first match of the day to require the specially-constructed play-off hole.

Brazel holed from 15 feet at the 166-yard par-three to book a semi-final clash against Scotland after Marc Warren and Richie Ramsay powered to a 3-0 win over Portugal, sandwiching birdies at the second and fourth with a brilliant eagle at the third as Ramsay smote a stunning three-wood to two feet.

Denmark birdied the fourth to take a 1-0 lead their last-four encounter with Italy, who replied with a two at the next, only for the Danes to make the decisive birdie at the last to preserve their unbeaten record for the tournament.

Australia gained the early advantage in Scotland before Brazel missed from six feet for par at the fifth, but Warren then carved his second into the water hazard at the last and the Scots failed to get up-and-down to save par and take the match to a play-off.

But the Scottish pair gained some consolation when they edged out Manassero and Paratore on the play-off hole following a 1-1 draw, with Warren winning the nearest-the-pin shootout by just four inches.