Justin Rose and Ian Poulter fired England to the top of the Omega Mission Hills World Cup leaderboard after carding a five-under 67 midway through the second round.
England had started the morning two shots behind overnight leaders Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum of the USA but they enjoyed a fine run on the front nine to move two shots clear of the Americans on the Olazabal course at Mission Hills Golf Club today.
They carded their first birdie on the long par-five third before adding three more before the turn.
England added another on the bunker-laden 10th to move onto 14-under through 10 holes.
The USA initially increased their lead when they birdied the first but they struggled to consolidate as they bogeyed the 405-yard fourth.
However they picked up two birdies on the long par-fives seven and nine to move onto 12 under at the turn.
Denmark were four under through 13 to climb up the leaderboard into joint third alongside defending champions Germany — one stroke behind the USA.
Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren, meanwhile, found themselves dropping away from the top, as they were one under for the day and 10-under-par overall through 10.
A bogey on the fifth wiped out the birdie they had picked up on the previous hole and though they added two more birdies before the turn, a bogey on the 10th saw them drop to tied for fifth.
They were joined by South Africa, Argentina and Finland.
Wales duo Bradley Dredge and Stephen Dodd were, however, struggling to adapt to the switch to foursomes after a strong display during fourballs yesterday.
Having finished among the chasing pack yesterday they had dropped to joint 22nd today with a disappointing four-over-par 76 through 10 holes.
They failed to pick up a single shot on the front nine, carding three consecutive bogeys from the first and then bogeying the par-four sixth and will have their work cut out coming home to improve their round score.
Ireland, meanwhile, were tied for 15th with one hole remaining after enduring a mixed run where an impressive six birdies were negated somewhat by two bogeys and a double bogey.
PA
