Golf:Anna Nordqvist and Sophie Gustafson retained golf's European Nations Cup as they lifted Sweden to a three stroke victory over England and Germany at La Sella Golf Resort in Alicante, Spain.

Sweden, the first nation to retain the trophy in the four versions of the event, began the final round with a three stroke advantage before finishing with a four under par 68 for a 21 under par 267 total, the same aggregate as 12 months ago.

“It was absolutely fantastic. I couldn’t be happier, standing here,” said Nordqvist. “We had a fun team this week and it was exciting to pull out some great golf out there, so we’re really happy.”

Nordqvist rolled in the winning birdie putt after Gustafson chipped to three feet on the 18th green after playing the Valencian Cup format - an adaptation of Greensomes.

“It means a lot having so many Swedes around here cheering us on. They had this birdie song today so you want to laugh every time they did it. They made a big effort to come here and there were a lot of people by the 18th green so it was very exciting,” added Nordqvist.

English pair Laura Davies and Melissa Reid momentarily tied for the lead after mixing six birdies with one bogey on the front nine for an outward total of 31, but they stalled on the back nine until Davies holed a monster eagle putt from across the green at the last, coming back in 35 for a 66.

“I must admit, when we made the turn and Mel made that great putt on nine, I thought, ‘We’re in here,’ I really thought we were going to have a strong chance but we’ve not had one good back nine the whole week,” said Davies.

“Apart from that one good putt on the 18th we struggled on the back nine, so we fizzled out a little bit, but it was good fun, I enjoyed it. We wanted to beat the Welsh more than anything else and I knew they were making a birdie so I had to finish strong and get that one to the hole.”

By contrast, the German pair of Anja Monke and Caroline Masson were out in 33 but picked up the pace with four birdies on the back nine to come home in 32 for a 65.

“It was a nice round again, seven under again. I think that format fits us pretty well,” said Masson. “We played good and we had a lot of fun out there so it was a nice day. It was a good week for us and I think we are quite happy with that result.”

US pair Christina Kim and Brittany Lincicome (69) ended in a tie for seventh with Spain’s Azahara Muñoz and Maria Hernández, who dropped back after a final round of 74.

The Irish pair of Rebecca Codd and Martina Gillen closed with a 68 to finish 13th on eight under.

In total, 18 teams contested the tournament on the Jose-Maria Olazábal designed course in Dénia, Alicante.