England edge into share of lead

GOLF: Pair score 10-under in World Cup to go joint top of leaderboard

Ryder Cup team-mates Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton fired a 10-under-par 62 to give England a share of the lead after the opening round of the World Cup of Golf.

Poulter and Hatton combined for 10 birdies, including eight in the space of 11 holes from the seventh, to end the day at the top of the leaderboard alongside host nation Australia and Korea at Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne.

Defending champions Denmark, represented again by Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen, are just a shot off the lead alongside Belgium’s Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry and the Malaysian pair of Gavin Green and Ben Leong.

Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Paul Dunne are two shots off the pace after a 64 matched by India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar and Anirban Lahiri.

Scotland – Russell Knox and Martin Laird – are five under.

“I think we’re quite happy with that,” Poulter said. “On a day like today you have to make some birdies. We made enough to get on the top of the board, which is the main goal.

“We dovetailed nicely. When one was out of position, the other one was in position and that’s exactly what you have to do in fourballs. Foursomes is a completely different game.

“This golf course will be a lot more difficult tomorrow and obviously Sunday, so we’ve got a couple of days of enjoyable golf and then there’s a couple days of stressful golf. We are happy with the start but there is a lot of golf to be played over the next three days.”

Australia, represented by Marc Leishman and Cam Smith, recorded an eagle and eight birdies in their 62.

Picture: Getty. Martin Laird of Scotland plays a shot on the first hole during day one of the 2018 World Cup of Golf.