OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup: Second-round notes

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The Spanish team dominated the front nine in the second round at Mission Hills with a 7-under 29.

SHENZHEN, China -- Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez is representing Spain for the 12th time in the World Cup. His previous best finish at this event was a runner-up showing in 2004 when he teamed with Sergio Garcia. The Jimenez-Pablo Larrazabal team leads this year's OMEGA Mission Hills World Cup at the halfway point, four strokes ahead of Australia and Germany.

Teams featuring Miguel Angel Jimenez have finished in the top 10 at the World Cup seven other times. In those 12 appearances, Jimenez has played with seven different partners, led by Jose Rivero (1990, 1992-1994) who joined forces with Jimenez four times. Here is a look at all of Jimenez's partners and Spain's ultimate finish in those years:

Both eagles Friday came on the par-5 third. France made the first, followed by Spain. Spain's eagle came amid a 5-under streak on Nos. 2 through 5.

The Philippines team of Marciano Pucay and Angelo Que are tied for 10th after two rounds. The Philippines has never won this event, with its best showing coming in 1977 when the team of Rudy Lavares and Ben Arda lost at home to Spain (Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido). That year's event was held at Wack Wack Golf Club in Manila. The Philippines' last top-10 World Cup finish came a year after its runner-up performance. The team of Lavares and Eleuterio Nival finished seventh in Hawaii 30 years ago.

Spain is looking for its fifth World Cup title, and the team is in prime position to do that entering the weekend. Previously, Spain won this tournament in 1976 and 1977 (Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido), 1982 (Jose-Maria Canizares and Manuel Pinero) and 1984 (Canizares and Jose Rivero). Spain and Australia are tied for second with the most wins in the World Cup. The United States leads with 23 titles.

The low front-nine score Friday came courtesy of Spain. Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal combined to shoot a 7-under 29 on the strength of five birdies and one eagle. The low back nine was by Korea (4-under 32).

The biggest mover of the day was Korea. Entering the second round, the team of Bae Sang-moon and Kim Hyung-tae were in 16th place. Through 36 holes, Korea finds itself in ninth place.

The only teams to finish their rounds with birdies Friday were South Africa, Chile and the United States. The Philippines team was the only squad to begin the day with a birdie. It was one of four Pucay and Que made on the front nine. They were birdie-free on the back. They finished at even-par 72.

The biggest drop from front nine to back nine came from the Welsh team, which shot a 2-under 34 on the Olazabal Course's front nine but came home with a 7-over 43, a difference of nine strokes. The biggest improvement from front to back came courtesy of the Korean team, which shot a 2-over 38 on the front nine and a 4-under 32 on the final nine of the day.

The U.S. team of Brandt Snedeker and Ben Curtis didn't record a bogey on the front nine Friday. The problem was the team didn't make a birdie either. Curtis and Snedeker reeled off 10 straight pars to start their round, bogeyed No. 11 then added pars on Nos. 12 through 14. The duo finally got things rolling with four straight birdies to end their round. The U.S. is tied for fifth, six strokes behind Spain. That birdie binge was the longest of the second round.

China (3-over 75) and Guatemala (4-over 76) were the only two teams to not record a birdie Friday. China is in 25th place, while Guatemala is tied with Venezuela for 26th.

Defending champion Scotland (Colin Montgomerie and Alastair Forsyth) is in 17th after the second round. The Scots followed their first-round 68 with a 1-over 73 Friday.