USA, Australia focus on catching Spain, making birdies

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Team USA is still in the game but knows it needs a strong weekend to earn the trophy.

SHENZHEN, China -- Through 14 holes Friday at the OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup, the U.S. team of Ben Curtis and Brandt Snedeker had a whole lot of nothing going on. During their front nine on the Olazabal Course at Mission Hills Golf Club, Team USA had reeled off par after par after par, and the trend continued when the two players made the turn -- with another par at No. 10. That left Curtis and Snedeker even for the day. Meanwhile, Spain had gone 8-under during that same time frame, pulling away from not only the Americans but the field as well.

Curtis, for one, wasn't exactly worried. Then again, four birdies to complete the round didn't hurt. "I wouldn't say we were done," he said when asked about their position had they not birdied the final four holes. "We could go out tomorrow and shoot 13-under and be right back in it."

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Team Australia is tied for second, four shots behind Spain.

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On a cool, blustery day, though, the U.S. team, at times, struggled, and 13-under was never in the picture. "It was hard to get momentum going. We had a chip lip out, and we had some good looks at birdie," Snedeker explained. "We hit good putts, and they just didn't go in."

That changed with the flurry, beginning at No. 15. As it worked out, Curtis made all four birdie putts in the foursomes, alternate-shot format.

"We just hung in there and kept telling ourselves, you know, a couple more birdies. We had to at least give ourselves a chance on the weekend," added Curtis.

The team's tour around the Olazabal Course was almost the exact opposite of Australia's, which shot a 4-under 32 on the front nine but was even on the back.

"Neither of us have played foursomes for quite a long time," said Australia's Brendan Jones. "I haven't played foursomes for nearly 10 years."

An extended period without playing foursomes left Green in the same situation. "Yeah, I haven't played foursomes since the last time we played the World Cup (in 1998 in Auckland, New Zealand)."

Trailing by six strokes with 36 holes to play, Curtis had a simple assessment about what America needs to do. "Make birdies; that's it," he said.

Snedeker, aware of what Spain was doing during its round, knows what he and Curtis are up against with two rounds to play.

"If they go out and play two good rounds, it's going to be very tough to beat them," Snedeker said of the Spanish pairing of Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal. "Over four days, you're going to have one day that you don't play good, so hopefully we got past that day today, and we can go out and play two good rounds this weekend."

Australia still likes its chances at the halfway point, four strokes behind.

"We are confident that we are going to be there Sunday afternoon. We've played 36 holes, and we are right in the mix. So we are plodding along nicely," said Jones.

He understands -- as does the U.S. squad -- though, that to win, the plodding will have to stop at some point.

And something a little better will have to start, something as simple as what Curtis said: "Make birdies."