Belgium and South Korea lead at wild World Cup

Melbourne - Poulter digs deep to keep England in touch

Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry staged a wet weather clinic at the World Cup of Golf on Friday to give Belgium a share of the lead with South Korea, as the top nations floundered through atrocious conditions during the second round.
Amid howling wind and driving rain at Metropolitan Golf Club, the unfancied Belgians were mostly seamless in the foursomes, shooting a one-under 71 to move to a 10-under total of 134.
Overnight co-leaders South Korea were almost as impressive, with Kim Si-woo and An Byeong-hun combining for a 72 to keep pace with Belgium and carve out a two-stroke lead over England (74), Italy (71), India (72) and Malaysia (73).
"It was really fricking tough out there," Pieters told reporters.
"It was just like horizontal rain," his team mate Detry chipped in. "So wind got up, wind didn't drop, so it was just a tough day all round.
"I'm excited for my shower tonight."
Only four of the two-man teams in the 28-nation field scored under par on a day when bunkers resembled wading pools and tempers frayed in the maelstrom.
A tournament touted as a gathering of top golf nations bordered on farce at times, as players trudged through puddles and bashed their way through thickets after spraying errant shots into trees.
Overnight co-leaders Australia stumbled to six-over by the 12th hole, the duo of Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith spending much of their day trying to mop up each other's mistakes.
The pair rallied with three consecutive birdies from the 14th to remain in contention, four strokes off the pace.
ANGRY HATTON
Thrashed by Europe at the recent Ryder Cup, the United States' struggles in team events continued as Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley crashed to a seven-over 79 to fall 11 strokes behind the leaders, their title hopes all but shot.
Firebrand Tyrrell Hatton smashed a tee marker to smithereens with his driver after shanking into the trees at the par-four 10th as England wobbled with a run of three successive bogeys from the ninth.
"Yeah, obviously that wasn't a great moment," said Hatton. "It was kind of a reaction without thinking."
Team mate Ian Poulter played superbly to limit the damage, however, keeping England's hopes of a third World Cup title alive with his putter and a slew of fine recoveries.
The 42-year-old Ryder Cup veteran was irked that he and Hatton were forced to play out of a water-logged fairway bunker on the 13th, with free drops doing little to improve the lie of their ball.
"Look, it was questionable (whether they were playable)," Poulter said. "But, you know, it's just one of those grey areas."
Further down the leaderboard, Greece's Peter Karmis and Alexander Tranacher, who qualified after Austria pulled out of the tournament, had a nightmare day.
They staggered back to the clubhouse after a 15-over round of 87, featuring three triple-bogeys on the back nine.
The tournament's third round reverts back to the four-ball format on Saturday.