Canada Clings To 8th Place In World Cup In China

And despite a 3-under 69 that allows Canada to remain tied for 8th place, the Canadian duo of Wes Heffernan of Calgary and Graham Dalaet of Weyburn, Saskatchewn have fallen to 10 shots off the pace of the tournament leaders in this international field of 28 nations.

Australia's Brendan Jones made a 4-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Saturday, elevating Australia to 9-under while Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal of Spain, who held a four-stroke lead after two rounds, settled for a 67 and a share of first place. Jimenez missed a 6-foot putt for birdie on the final hole, which would have kept Spain in the outright lead.

Jones and teammate Richard Green have thrived in the fourball style of play. On Thursday they also shot a 63 in fourball. Sunday's final, however, will be played in foursomes (alternate shot). Spain shot a blistering 63 on Friday playing that format.

In foursomes, teams play one ball and alternate the shots. Fourball is easier because each golfer plays his own ball, but the team only counts the best of the two scores on each hole.

Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson of Sweden, the two highest ranked players in the event, shot 66 and are four strokes off the lead. Germany was another stroke back after a 68. Ireland (68) trailed by seven and the United States (69) and Japan (68) were eight behind.

Australia pulled even with Spain on the 15th with an eagle. Jones landed his 180-yard approach -- using a 9-iron -- and then holed his 5-foot putt.

"I actually got some chills up the back of my spine when the crowd sort of thought it was a pretty decent shot and they all cheered," said Jones, who plays primarily on the Japan tour. "I would have been very, very disappointed to have missed that putt."

Playing in the same group, Jimenez found water on the hole and settled for a bogey -- Larrazabal also bogeyed -- to level the two teams at 21 under.

Spain also had a bogey on the hole on Friday, the only blemish on a great round.

"Tomorrow we won't play that hole," Jimenez joked. "From 14 we'll go to 16."

Spain went to 22-under with a birdie on 16.

The Spaniards had their own eagle when Jimenez holed a 50-yard wedge on No. 7, which gave them a three-stroke cushion over Australia after a slow start.

"We are still leading," Jimenez said. "So we know if we play like yesterday we are going to win the tournament. So that's all."

Jones said the tournament was getting little coverage in Australia with John Daly and the Australian Masters hogging the headlines. He said one report back home identified his family name as "James" instead of "Jones."

Australia has five players ranked in the top 50 -- led by No. 14 Geoff Ogilvy and No. 17 Adam Scott. They all passed on the event, with No. 59 Green and No. 64 Jones taking the invitation.

"You know, we have got something to prove to the press back home," Jones said. "We might not be the most famous of the Australian players, but we are backing our ability."

Spain has won the World Cup four times -- the last in 1984 with Jose Maria Canizares and Jose Rivero. Australia has also won four, the last in 1989 with Peter Fowler and Wayne Grady.

Canada, the original hosts of this tournament when it was called the Canada Cup back in 1953, share eighth place with the Philippines and Denmark.

"Today was bit frustrating," said DeLaet. "We started off nicely when Wes rolled in a nice birdie from about 25 feet on the 2nd hole to get things started for us. We then both hit the par 5 3rd green in two but three putted from long range.

"We struggled to make pars on the next few holes until we each birdies seven and eight.

"The 11th is a blind tee shot but we both misjudged the swirling winds and ended up in the hazard. We saved par but you need to make birdies on the par five holes in a best ball format.

"We had great birdie chances on 12, 13, and 14 but burned edges on every putt and remained at three under for the day.

"It was just one of those days when nothing seemed to quite go right," concluded DeLaet. "We burned a lot of edges and lipped out a couple that could have changed a mediocre round into a nice one.

"It will really take something special tomorrow to win the golf tournament, but a solid round should give us a respectable finish - a finish that few people other than Wes and I would have expected."

"We just couldn't get the putts to go, save a few good ones by Graham on the seventh and eighth," said Heffernan, who is making his second consecutive appearance here.

"I had some great chances midway through the round but failed to convert on any of them when I felt it was my turn to contribute some birdies to the team. It made for a frustrating day for me.

"I probably cost us five or six shots. You always look back at rounds like this and think 'what if?' I need to look forward to tomorrow and forget about today's performance. I need to step up for my partner and play a great round. That's what we are planning on doing."

WORLD CUP OF GOLF
Mission Hills - - Shenzen, China - - Par 72

Team - - - - Country - - - - Scores
Miguel Angel Jimenez-Pablo Larrazabal, Spain 64-63-67--194
Brendan Jones-Richard Green, Australia 63-68-63--194
Robert Karlsson-Henrik Stenson, Sweden 65-67-66--198
Martin Kaymer-Alex Cejka, Germany 62-69-68--199
Graeme McDowell-Paul McGinley, Ireland 65-68-68--201
Ben Curtis-Brandt Snedeker, United States 64-69-69--202
Ryuji Imada-Toru Taniguchi, Japan 66-68-68--202
Wes Heffernan-Graham Delaet, Canada 64-71-69--204
Marciano Pucay-Angelo Que, Philippines 67-72-65--204
Soren Hansen-Anders Hansen, Denmark 65-75-64--204
Gregory Bourdy-Gregory Havret, France 68-75-62--205
Prayad Marksaeng-Thongchai Jaidee, Thailand 69-73-64--206
Ian Poulter-Ross Fisher, England 69-74-63--206
Mikko Korhonen-Roope Kakko, Finland 69-70-68--207
Rory Sabbatini-Richard Sterne, South Africa 70-70-67--207
Tiago Cruz-Ricardo Santos, Portugal 67-73-67--207
Edoardo Molinari-Francesco Molinari, Italy 70-73-64--207
David Smail-Mark Brown, New Zealand 65-75-68--208
Liang Wenchong-Zhang Lianwei, China 69-75-64--208
Kim Hyung-tae, Bae Sang-moon, South Korea 68-70-71--209
Jyoti Randhawa-Jeev Milkha Singh, India 67-72-70--209
Colin Montgomerie-Alastair Forsyth, Scotland 68-73-68--209
Felipe Aguilar-Mark Tullo, Chile 67-76-66--209
Pablo Acuna-Alejandro Villavicenc, Guatemala 69-76-66--211
Lu Wen-teh and Lin Wen-tang, Taiwan 68-74-69--212
Bradley Dredge-Richard Johnson, Wales 69-77-68--214
Oscar Serna-Daniel DeLeon, Mexico 66-77-71--214
Miguel Martinez-Raul Sanz, Venezuela 71-74-75--220