Denmark secure first victory thanks to Kjeldsen and Olesen

The younger Olesen was the star, contributing six birdies and an eagle, but the accurate ball striking of world No.45 Kjeldsen playing first allowed his partner, ranked 67, the freedom to explore the possibilities in cold and windy conditions.

The Chinese duo fought superbly in the final day’s fourball session, combining effectively for a seven-under-par 65 and a 16-under-par 272 aggregate to end the week four shots behind Danish duo Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen.

They extended their lead by one shot, setting up a four-shot lead entering the final round, which again switched back to better ball.

Scott chose Marc Leishman to help him represent Australia, but the two never really found their rhythm, ultimately settling for a tie for ninth at 11 under.

Four more birdies followed in the next five holes to kill off any hopes their playing partners, world number 12 Fowler and US PGA Championship title holder Walker, had of overhauling them.

They head into Saturday’s foursomes with a handy buffer over second-placed China, with Spain a further stroke behind on eight-under. And we didn’t play poorly, but we didn’t play good enough to be at the top of the leaderboard.

“Obviously, Francesco gave me the opportunity to play and we had a lot of fun”.

After a slow start, four birdies on the back nine had the Irish challenge on track.

“We showed yesterday that a really low score is possible out there in the fourballs”, said Olesen.

The star United States pair dropped a shot at the first after three-putting, but they clawed the shot back at the next and PGA champion Walker drained an excellent putt for birdie at the fifth.

Laughed Kjeldsen: “He comes up to me after the round and said, ‘Did I see a fist pump at 7.30 in the morning?'”

“We play different games, we don’t talk much and just play our shots and that’s helpful”, Olesen said.

Wu Ashun and Li Haotong of China are third on 9-under. End of the day, you’ve got to hit quality shots, but I think it’s probably more a mental thing than a strategic thing.

“Me and Soren have been great this week with our mental strength – it’s been very, very good”, said the 26-year-old Olesen, whose big-hitting, attacking style provided the flawless counterpoint to Kjeldsen’s more measured game.

China’s pursuit of their first World Cup victory has been the other major story of the week, but it seemed a distant prospect after a double bogey and a bogey on the first two holes on Saturday. “Doesn’t mean the leaders are going to play any good over the weekend, so, hopefully, we can close the gap”.