Sledge sparks Leish
CAMERON Smith says a friendly spray to teammate Marc Leishman put Australia’s World Cup charge back on track as the tournament favourites secured a share of the lead on day one.
With forecast wild weather failing to show up at Melbourne’s Metropolitan Golf Club yesterday, scores were hot in the opening round four-ball format but Cup favourite Australia kept pace with a 10-under-par 62.
Australia joined England duo Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter, as well as Koreans Byeong Hun An and Si Woo Kim, atop the leaderboard at the $US7 million ($A9.6 million) two-man teams event.
Defending champion Denmark (Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen), Belgium (Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry) and Malaysia (Gaving Green and Ben Leong) share fourth at nine under having each posted 63.
Cup debutant Smith carried Australia for the first four holes with a birdie and an eagle on his ball, with Leishman a slow starter.
“I gave ‘Leish’ a bit of an uppercut under the ribs after the fourth; I said, ‘ You can turn up anytime’,” he said.
Smith’s light-hearted spray seemed to work wonders as the Cup’s highestranked player, Leishman, stiffed his tee shot to tap-in distance for birdie at the par-3 sixth.
The world No.21 then contributed the team’s next three birdies as Australia ignited a switch.
Leishman and Smith picked up three more shots coming home to lay a solid foundation for a run at a sixth World Cup title for Australia.
“When I was in trouble Cam played smart and he made great putts,” Leishman said. “Scores were pretty good today so I’m happy we’re tied for the lead.”
The 28 teams at the unofficial US PGA Tour event will now brace for the volatile foursomes format today, which sees team partners hitting alternate shots using one ball.