Thomas Bjorn takes World Cup lead at Royal Melbourne

Graeme McDowell and Shane Lowry fell further off the pace at the World Cup today as Denmark's Thomas Bjorn took charge. Bjorn was a model of consistency as he tamed Royal Melbourne with a three under 68 to take a one-shot lead over Kevin Streelman of the United States after the second round.

The gritty 42-year-old bogeyed his first and last holes but was rock solid in between as he rolled in five birdies to finish with an eight-under total of 134.

McDowell remains on one over for the tournament after a topsy turvey round of 71 that saw him bag six birdies. But those shots were given back with four bogeys and a double on the 13th and he remains nine shots behind Bjorn’s lead.

Lowry dropped back to five over overall after a round of 72. In the team event, that leaves the Irish pairing are on six over par, 16 shots behind Kevin Streelman and Matt Kuchar of the United States.

Already uncomfortably fast in Thursday’s opening round, Royal Melbourne’s greens were rendered devilish during a second straight day of warm sunshine and persistent breezes and less than a third of the field finished under par. Seemingly well-directed approach shots charged past the hole and players sweated over three-foot putts with trepidation bordering on fear.

Along with Bjorn, Streelman was among the few to handle the conditions well and charged out of the blocks to birdie his opening four holes. He had the wind taken out of his sails, though, when he dropped three strokes in two holes midway through his round.

Following his first bogey on the eighth, Streelman pulled his second shot into a greenside bunker on the long par-four ninth and ended up with a double-bogey after missing a putt from 12 feet.

Australia's Jason Day (70) and Portugal's Ricardo Santos (69) were tied for third, four strokes behind Bjorn, with American Matt Kuchar (68) among a group of four players a further stroke adrift.

Sixty players are competing for individual honours for the first time at the biennial World Cup, which was previously solely a team tournament. Twenty-six two-man teams are also competing, with the best aggregate scores after four rounds of strokeplay determining the winning nation.

World number seven Kuchar, who won the last World Cup for the United States in 2011 with Gary Woodland in China, patiently worked himself back into contention with a solid 68. That propelled the United States into the lead for team honours on 10 under, three strokes ahead of Denmark's Bjorn and Thorbjorn Olesen (72).

Australia's Day and Adam Scott were tied for third with Japan's Hideto Tanihara (67) and Ryo Ishikawa (71), a further four strokes adrift.

World number 18 Day, who is still grieving over eight relatives killed when Typhoon Haiyan pounded the Philippines earlier this month, grafted to a one-under round but felt cheated after lipping out on several holes.

“This course can make you want to snap your clubs over your knees,” the 26-year-old lamented. “But it is really hard to control that frustration sometimes.”