Spain surge into World Cup lead

Spain surged into a two-stroke lead at the top of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup leaderboard midway through second round foursomes today.

Having started the round two shots behind overnight leader Germany following an eight-under-par 64 in yesterday’s fourballs, Miguel Angel Jimenez and 2008 European Tour Rookie of the Year Pablo Larrazabal flourished in the alternate shot format to reach the turn at seven under for the day.

Spain made their move when they birdied the par-three second on the Olazabal course at Mission Hills Golf Club before adding an eagle on the third.

They then picked up four further shots while making par on the rest to move onto 15 under for the tournament through nine and two ahead of Australia, who were 13 under midway through their round.

Ireland recovered from a disappointing double-bogey at the last yesterday to climb up into a share of third today at 10 under through nine alongside Canada and Germany, who were through eight and nine holes respectively.

Graeme McDowell and Paul McGinley combined for a birdie on the 548-yard third but then compounded to drop a shot on the par-four fourth.

However, they picked up further birdies at the fifth, sixth and ninth and were five shots off the lead at the turn.

Germany had started their second round with a slender one-stroke advantage and made good headway when they picked up a shot on the par-three second as Alex Cejka hit a superb tee shot to within six inches of the pin to leave Martin Kaymer with a simple birdie putt.

However, dropped shots on the short fifth and par-four sixth meant they fell to nine under but a birdie on the ninth ensured they reached the turn at 10 under for the tournament.

Colin Montgomerie and Alastair Forsyth of Scotland were tied ninth at six under through 12 holes after carding four birdies against two bogeys, while England’s Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher were three under for the tournament with three holes of their round remaining.