The flamboyant Spanish duo of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal surged to a four shot lead after the second round of the World Cup today.

The pair, who started the day two strokes off the pace after a 64 in the first round of fourballs, combined magnificently in the trickier foursomes (alternate shot) format to fire a stunning 63.

It gave them a two-day total of a 17-under-par 127.

Germany, the first round leaders, and Australia are tied for second place on 13-under, while pre-tournament favourites Sweden lie in fourth, a further stroke adrift.

“We enjoyed it a lot out there, that was the key to our round,” said Larrazabal, who was recently named the Rookie of the Year after an impressive first season on the European Tour. “We played really well; that's a great round for foursomes.”

Spain was out of the blocks quickly with three birdies and an eagle in the first five holes. Further birdies at the seventh, 10th and 11th put them on course to break the World Cup foursomes record of 61 set by the Argentinean team of Angel Cabrera and Ricardo Gonzales in 2005.

But an uncharacteristic bogey at the par-five 15th, the Olazabal Course's signature hole, where Jimenez stubbed a chip, put paid to the chance.

“Maybe I wanted to be a little bit too greedy and missed the shot,” said Jimenez of the pair's only blemish of the day. “(But) apart from that we complemented each other very well.”

Germany, represented by in-form Martin Kaymer and US-based Alex Cejka, recovered from a lacklustre first nine holes to card three back-nine birdies for a 69 and remain in the title hunt with 36 holes to play.

“We were struggling,” admitted Cejka, who has missed most of the latter half of the year due to a neck injury.

“But we were fighting to the end. We made a couple of good birdies coming in, and I think we can be pleased with today.”

Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson, the two highest world-ranked players in the tournament at sixth and 12th respectively, gave Sweden a boost with a determined 67 to stand well placed going into the weekend.

“There's still a long way to go, and hopefully we can reel the Spaniards in,” said Stenson, a two-time Ryder Cupper. “We hit some really good shots and made some really good putts. I think it could even have been a couple of shots better.”

Colin Montgomerie's hopes of defending his World Cup crown with fellow Scot Alastair Forsyth are but all over after they slumped to a 73. The duo is placed 17th on three-under-par.

China, meanwhile, disappointed their home galleries with an error-strewn round of 75. Represented by veteran Zhang Lianwei and 2007 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Liang Wenchong, the pair lost their way on the greens, failing to make a single birdie to drop into 25th from the 28 teams participating.

“This is the worst round that we've played as a team in the past six to seven years. I'm really disappointed,” said Zhang.

“We're going to go back to the range and find something in our games. Hopefully we can play better so that our fans and the media will be in a better mood.”

The South African team of Rory Sabbatini and Richard Sterne are tied for 13th after another round of 70.

AFP

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