Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren beat the United States on the third hole of a sudden death playoff to win the World Cup.

A fourth par of the day at the 18th proved enough for the Scots to edge overnight leaders Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum, pick up a cheque for $800,000 each and make amends for their own playoff defeat by Germany last year.

"Fantastic," said Montgomerie after finally getting his hands on the trophy at the ninth attempt.

"It's been a long time for Scotland, we've been runners-up six times and Marc and I were last year. To come back and win it after losing the playoff last year is superb."

The Americans looked set for victory when the Scots twice found the sand on the first extra hole but Warren nailed a 12-foot putt for par and Slocum just missed a birdie effort.

Slocum had successfully sunk a five-foot birdie putt at the same green to force the playoff, giving the Americans a five-under 67 to match the Scots on 25-under for the tournament after the final round foursomes.

An eagle at the 15th courtesy of a sublime six iron from Montgomerie and a six-foot Warren putt was the highlight for the Scots in their round of six-under 66.

"A birdie would have been good but an eagle was superb," said Montgomerie.

"It gave us the outright lead for the first time today and although the Americans caught us with a great birdie at the last, we felt very good about ourselves after that."

The Americans, both making their debuts in the 54-year-old tournament, had led by a shot after all three previous rounds in their pursuit of a 24th World Cup victory for their country.

"We feel kind of disappointed of how we finished up but overall it was a great week," said Weekley, the world number 43.

Like the Scots, they missed a long birdie effort at the second extra hole and it was Weekley who went wide with a 15-footer when he was putting for par to keep the match alive.

Raphael Jacquelin failed to give his partner Gregory Havret the 31st birthday present he wanted by missing a tricky birdie putt at the 18th and the French had to settle for third on 24-under after a final round 67.

"Five-under was a very good score," said Havret. "We probably thought we would at least be in a playoff but the other boys also went very low."

England's Justin Rose and Ian Poulter, the only players from the world top 20 in the field, grabbed an eagle three at the ninth but a couple of early bogeys effectively ended their challenge and they finished fourth.

"The whole week was close but no cigar," said Rose. "We felt like we played well. We just didn't get it going at any stage to have a really good run."

Retief Goosen and Trevor Immelman's attempt to win a sixth World Cup for South Africa ended when they dropped three shots at the 12th and 13th. They finished fifth on 21 under.

Defending champions Germany finished in a tie for sixth with Argentina, Sweden and the Netherlands. Hosts China were a respectable joint 11th.

Irish pair Michael Hoey and Gareth Maybin carded the worst round of the day, a six-over 78, to finish 24th.