By European Tour media
Denmark will take a commanding four-shot lead into the final round of the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf after Søren Kjeldsen and Thorbjørn Olesen continued their sensational form at Kingston Heath Golf Club.
A stunning 60 in the fourballs on Friday had given the duo a three-shot advantage and they extended that with five birdies and three bogeys in a 70 in the foursomes that got them to 14 under.
Meanwhile, Aussies Marc Leishman and Adam Scott carded a respectable two-under-par 70 to climb to four under, but will start Sunday a distant 10 shots back of Denmark.
The United States pairing of Jimmy Walker and Rickie Fowler emerged as their nearest challengers with a round of 69, but they face an uphill battle to deny Denmark its first World Cup title.
The Danes both finished in the top 20 on this season’s Race to Dubai Rankings presented by Rolex and are both in excellent form, with Olesen having recently won the Turkish Airlines Open and Kjeldsen finishing in the top five at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai.
Ashun Wu and Li Haotong – both winners on the European Tour this year – were then third at nine under representing China, two shots clear of France, Japan and Spain.
After narrowly missing birdie chances on the first and second, Denmark dropped their first shot in 25 holes on the third as Kjeldsen found the sand with the second shot but they bounced back with a pair of birdies.
An excellent approach from Olesen had left Kjeldsen with little to do on the fourth and the 26 year old then drained a 12-footer for a five-shot lead.
Another birdie came on the tenth and after the pair did well to drop just a single shot after a ragged Olesen tee-shot on the 11th, he made amends with an excellent one on the short 13th to set up a gain. A three-putt bogey on the 17th then slightly took the gloss off the round.
The United States three-putted the first but bounced back with a birdie on the second and when Walker made another good putt on the fifth, they were alone in second.
A bogey was to come on the seventh but Walker was putting beautifully and back-to-back birdies on the eighth and ninth were followed by another gain on the 17th as the Americans search for a 25th title.
China did well to bounce back from a terrible start as Li made a mess of the first in a double-bogey and Wu’s tee-shot found the sand on the second. Birdies then followed on the fourth, fifth and 11th to get the Chinese pair back to level par for the day.
The Japanese pair of Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Ishikawa came home in 35 in a 71 while Frenchmen Victor Dubuisson and Romain Langasque went round in 72 with the help of an eagle on the eighth.
Rafa Cabrera Bello and Jon Rahm signed for a 73 to also sit at seven under, a shot clear of Italy and two ahead of Ireland, New Zealand and Sweden.
Read more at http://www.europeantour.com/europeantour/season=2016/tournamentid=2016092/news/newsid=315949.html#Oggt1MoIeVVr2ZvD.99
