Brendan Jones and Richard Green put Australia on top after the first day of golf's World Cup and hoped their performance would stir up interest in the event back home. The duo combined to record two eagles and seven birdies in an 11-under par 61 in the fourball format on the Blackstone course on China's Hainan Island, with Irish pair Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell two back after a 63. Also on nine-under was Scotland's Martin Laird and Stephen Gallacher. “Golf in Australia at the moment is all about the Australian PGA Championship at Coolum and do they even know the World Cup is on here in China?” Jones told Reuters. Both Jones and Green had also been keen to compete at last week's Presidents Cup but fell short of automatically qualifying for Greg Norman's Internationals. Ireland's duo eagled the par five sixth and managed seven birdies, and McDowell breathed a sigh of relief when his partner parred the last after he had missed an eight-footer. The US team of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland birdied five of their closing seven holes to finish the day tied with Netherlands in fourth at eight under par.
