Ryder Cup duo Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton gave England a share of the lead after day one of the World Cup of Golf at The Metropolitan Golf Club.
The pair carded a bogey-free 62 in the fourballs to get to ten under alongside home favourites Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith, and South Koreans Byeong-hun An and Si Woo Kim.
Defending champions Søren Kjeldsen and Thorbjørn Olesen were a shot off the lead for Denmark alongside Belgian pair Thomas Detry and Thomas Pieters, and the Malaysian team of Gavin Green and Ben Leong.
Poulter has five wins from his six Ryder Cup appearances, but he is still looking for a victory in his seventh World Cup, with Hatton making his debut.
‘I think we’re quite happy with that,’ said Poulter. ‘On a day like today you have to make some birdies. We made enough to get on the top of the board, which is the main goal. We dovetailed nicely.’
‘Foursomes is a completely different game. This golf course will be a lot more difficult tomorrow.’
Hatton added: ‘I was hitting the ball nicely, I just didn’t seem to kind of get a rhythm today. So tomorrow’s a new day and I can’t really play much worse than I did the back nine, so hopefully I do a better job tomorrow. I need to do a better job tomorrow.’
Irish pair Paul Dunne and Shane Lowry were at eight under alongside Anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar of India, a shot clear of Italy, New Zealand, Sweden and Venezuela.
In the group at -6 was South African pair Dylan Frittelli and Erik van Rooyen, who gained just one stroke on the four par 5s. The pair combined for seven birdies on Thursday, with four on the back nine including three in a row from the 11th and one to finish.
