Ireland slip six behind in Melbourne World Cup of Golf
A day for ducks at the Metropolitan Golf Club
"Irish" conditions didn't help Shane Lowry or Paul Dunne as they carded a four-over 76 in the second round foursomes at the ISPS HANDA Melbourne World Cup of Golf and slipped six strokes behind Belgium and South Korea at halfway.
As Thomas Detry and Thomas Pieters fired a battling 71 at a wet and windy Metropolitan Golf Club to share the lead with Byeong-hun An and Si Woo Kim (72) on 10-under, Ireland couldn't muster a birdie and now share 12th place on four-under.
The field was a combined 109 over in swirling winds with only four teams managing sub-par rounds.
Dunne and Lowry went out in one-over par as they mixed eight pars with a bogey at the fifth before further bogeys at the 11th, 12th and 16th added up to a 76.
Mexico's Abraham Ancer and Roberto Diaz had a best of the day 70 to move up to seventh on seven under as the Belgians shot 71 and South Korea a 72 to lead by two strokes from Italy's Renato Paratore and Andrea Pavan, England's Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter (71), India's Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri (72), and Malaysians Gavin Green and Ben Leong (73).
Belgium carded three birdies and two bogeys, with Pieters playing some wonderful bunker shots from the wet, heavy sand on Melbourne's Sandbelt.
"I think we played very solid," said Pieters. "Both of us were pretty on. The short game was pretty good today. It's nice to know when I hit it to five feet he's always going to make it. I told him if he puts me in the bunker today, it's fine."
Detry added: "Waking up this morning and getting here, it was just like horizontal rain. The wind got up and didn't drop so it was just a tough day all around. Happy it's done and I'm excited for my shower tonight."
Overnight leaders South Korea and England both dropped shots on the first after finding sand to quickly make it a six-way tie at the top but Belgium broke that logjam as a lovely pitch from Pieters set up a birdie on the par-five seventh.
They gave the shot straight back when Detry missed a short one and then it was England's turn to hit the front on the seventh as Hatton holed a ten-footer to get them into double-figures.
Kim holed a long putt on the eighth and Pieters played a lovely deft chip on the par-five ninth to help make it a three-way tie at the top.
An approach to eight feet on the tenth from Pieters handed Belgium the solo lead as Detry made the putt but South Korea got on the ninth green in two to join them at 11 under.
The Koreans then bogeyed the 11th and 12th as Pieters set up fantastic sand saves on the same holes but An and Kim hit back on the par-five 14th.
The lead was tied when Detry found a bunker with Belgium's second at the 17th and that was how it would stay.
"It's such a tough format with this wind and rain so I think we did well to shoot under par today," said 2015 BMW PGA Championship winner An. "We tried to stay focused and it's such a tough wind and rain, it was chaos. I think we kept in the game and never got out of it."
England lost a hat-trick of wickets from the ninth but made an incredible par save on the 13th after needing two attempts to get out of a fairway bunker before birdieing the next.
Paratore made a very long birdie putt on the first for Italy and they moved into a share of the lead with another gain on the fourth but gave the shot straight back with a three-putt from just off the fifth green.
Pavan hit back from 12 feet on the seventh and while they dropped a shot on the eighth, they made the most of the par-five ninth before bogeying the 17th.
Lahiri holed a monster put on the first but sent the third shot on the fifth over the back of the green before Bhullar holed a five-footer on the ninth. That shot was given back on the tenth but they birdied the 13th before bogeying the 15th.
Green went a long way right off the tee on the third for a bogey but a nice Leong approach at the next set up the bounceback before bunker trouble brought a dropped shot on the fifth. Birdies on the 14th and 16th then sandwiched a bogey on the 15th.
Mexico had birdied the second and sixth and Abraham Ancer rolled home from just off the green at the ninth, with a bogey on the last leaving them alone at seven under.
Australia and Scotland were at six under, a shot clear of France and Sweden.o
