South Africa's Trevor Immelman and Rory Sabbatini combined to shoot a 3-under-par 69 Friday to take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the World Cup.
Immelman and Sabbatini were at 5 under, two strokes ahead of Americans Jim Furyk and Justin Leonard and the French team of Thomas Levet and Raphael Jacquelin.
Furyk and Leonard shot a 70 on The Ocean Course for a 3 under total, while Levet and Jacquelin carded a par 72.
There were only three sub-par rounds in the alternate stroke round of the World Golf Championships event on a clear, cool day. The breeze was light, unlike Thursday when strong gusts buffeted the 7,296-yard, oceanfront Pete Dye layout.
"We played real solid all day and putted well, too," said Immelman, whose best PGA Tour finish was a tie for ninth at this year's NEC Invitational. "All in all, it was probably one of the best rounds I have played all year."
Furyk and Leonard missed several short putts, including a 2-footer at No. 8 and a 4-footer at the 11th, but finished with three birdies and a bogey.
"I was pleased with the way we played today," Furyk said. "I thought we had a couple of errant shots and missed a couple of putts, but we also scrambled pretty well."
Leonard agreed.
"Certainly we left some out there. There's not too many times you can think: `I got every bit out of today,'" he said. "When you say that, you usually hit it pretty bad or you shoot 62."
Leonard said the biggest adjustment to make in an alternate shot round is getting into the flow of the game.
"It seemed like I would go three or four holes without putting, and then all of a sudden for three or four holes I was putting," he said. "So the hardest thing about foursomes is getting into a rhythm in the round."
Wales' Ian Woosnam and Bradley Dredge, in second place after Thursday's best ball round, shot a 2-over-par 74 and slipped to fourth place at 2 under.
Argentina's Eduardo Romero and Angel Cabrera shot a 1-over 73 and were in fifth at 1 under heading into the third round.
First-round leaders Alex Cejka and Marcel Siem of Germany bogeyed three of the last six holes and finished 5 over. Their round included a double bogey at the 402-yard, par-4 14th.
The Germans were even in the event and tied for sixth with Sweden's Fredrik Jacobson and Niclas Fasth and Scotland's Paul Lawrie and Alastair Forsyth.
Lawrie and Forsyth eagled the par-5 second hole, but finished the round with three straight bogeys and a 73. The only other sub-par round on Friday was by Japan's Shigeki Maruyama and Hidemichi Tanaka, who had a 1-under 71. The defending World Cup champions are 1-over through two rounds.
The tournament returns to a best-ball format today.
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