Ireland hold on to World Cup lead

SECOND ROUND LEADERBOARD
-18 Ireland -15 Sweden -14 Italy -11 Japan
Selected others: -10 Wales -9 England -2 Scotland

McDowell put this approach at the daunting 15th into the water

Ireland's Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell retained a three-shot lead at the World Cup of Golf in China despite a stumble during Friday's foursomes.

The pair went five ahead at the turn thanks to two birdies and an eagle but a bogey at the 11th and a double at the 15th pegged them back.

However, they recovered with birdies at 16 and 17 which put them on 18 under.

The Swedish pair of Henrik Stenson and Robert Karlsson made the biggest charge of day two and are three shots behind.

McIlroy and McDowell sparkled with a 58 in the opening round but had to dig in after slip ups on the back nine on Friday.

The first bogey of the week arrived at the 11th following McIlroy's wayward tee shot and although they birdied 13, McDowell fired his approach at the par-five 15th into the water.

McIlroy eventually missed a two-foot uphill putt as Ireland shipped a double bogey just as Sweden and Italy charged up the leaderboard.

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But McDowell rolled home at 16 to stretch the lead to two before holing from 20 feet at 17 to regain the lost shots.

"We started out the day with a three-shot lead and we still have a three-shot lead, it was a good day," said McIlroy, the world number 10.

"This format is a lot trickier than the fourball, you have to rely on your partner to get you out of trouble, while you have to take responsibility in the fourball."

Sweden, the defending champions, carded the only bogey-free round of the day as they fired seven birdies in a 65.

"We played well yesterday but didn't really put the score together, but I definitely felt like we played a lot better yesterday than we did last year," said Karlsson.

"So at the end of the day it was a little bit frustrating with a 64, but I knew that the game was there to put a good score together today, and we did, so that's very, very encouraging."

The English pairing of Ian Poulter and Ross Fisher sit tied for ninth, nine shots off the lead, after a 69.

The third day is played in the fourball format, in which four balls are used and the score of the player with the fewest shots at each hole counts, with the final round reverting back to foursomes, where the teams compete using one ball.

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