Rory McIlroy and Graeme McDowell shot a 4-under 68 in the second round Friday to give the Ireland team a share of the lead with Australia at the World Cup. The pair joined Brendan Jones and Richard Green at 13-under 131 overall after the foursomes' alternate shot format in wet and windy weather on the Blackstone course at the Mission Hills golf resort on Hainan Island. McIlroy and McDowell made six birdies offset by two bogeys, whereas the Australians holed an eagle and three birdies to hit a 70 but struggled to replicate their first-round rhythm and lost their two-shot lead. Martin Laird and Stephen Gallacher of Scotland holed four birdies in a 69 to sit a further shot back in third place. Defending champions Edoardo and Francesco Molinari of Italy are tied for 10th after shooting a 69, and Edoardo later blamed China's notorious restless and noisy crowd for their poor first round. New Zealand pair Michael Hendry and Gareth Paddison recovered from a double-bogey on the par-5 No. 2 to make eight birdies in a 68. The Kiwis are tied for fourth on 10-under with Spain and the United States duo of Matt Kuchar and Gary Woodland, who hit four birdies and two bogeys in a 70. Fraser ahead In Coolum, Australia, European Tour regular Marcus Fraser of Australia shot a 7-under-par 65 Friday to take a two-stroke lead over American Bubba Watson after two rounds of the Australian PGA. Watson was in the lead for much of the day, but a three-putt bogey on 18 left him with a 68. K.T. Kim (67)) was in third, three behind. Y.E. Yang (68) and three Australians – John Senden, whose 64 included a hole-in-one on the second hole, Adam Scott (67) and Robert Allenby (68) were tied for fourth, four behind Fraser. A quality field is taking part here which includes Australians Jason Day (69) and Stuart Appleby (68), both in a group tied for eighth, five behind. Kruger, O'Hara share lead Jbe Kruger shared the early field Thursday with Steven O'Hara after hitting a series of birdies to score seven-under-par 65 in the first round of the South African Open. The South African fired seven birdies in a bogey-free start that he shared with Scot O'Hara, who hit an eagle at the 8th and a lone bogey at the 4th at the Serengeti Golf and Wildlife Estate on the outskirts of Johannesburg. South Africans Retief Goosen, Merrick Bremner, David Hewan and Tyrone Mordt shared third place one stroke behind the top of the leaderboard.
