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Sweden might yet have something to say in the destination of the trophy
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Also out of contention are holders Scotland. They had dragged themselves back to something approaching respectability at six-under, but a botched wedge by Forsyth on 15, when he missed the target by twenty feet from only eighty yards, heralded a dismal patch for the Scots. They double-bogeyed 16, and bogeyed again on 17, to leave themselves in the bottom half of the field.
Also disappointing were hosts China. They did not manage a single birdie in their round, and a bogey on the first and a double-bogey on 12 wiped out their three-under from day 1. They lie 25th, with only Venezuela, Guatemala, and Wales behind them. This will come as a great disappointment to the team, particularly to Zhang Lianwei, who is a local, and even more so to the large and vociferous Chinese support, who started the competition in high hopes of a home win.
And so it is back to the fourball format for day 3, with the prospect of further low scores. It would be a lot to expect that Spain can repeat their round 2 fireworks, the margin between success and failure in golf being so tiny, but if they can put together any kind of front nine to match their round 2 effort then the title will be theirs for the taking
Shot of the day: A corker of a drive from Mexico's Daniel De Leon on the par-5 11th. He carved it so far to the right that he reached the pre-fairway rough on the 7th hole – a considerable achievement given the height of the mountain and the extent of the forest he had to negotiate to get there. His poor caddy – one of the local Mission Hills girls - must have wished she was a combination of Tarzan and a Nepalese Sherpa to get to his ball. Having found it, the Mexicans decided to carry on up the 7th, and then had the chutzpah to par the hole.
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Oscar Serna's caddy completes a long climb to retrieve the Mexican's ball on seven, while they were actually playing nine.
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(China.org.cn by David Ferguson November 30, 2008)
