IRELAND’S SHANE LOWRY and Paul Dunne have slipped back in the leaderboard at the World Cup of Golf after struggling in the wet and windy conditions on the second day of the tournament.
After making a bright start with a bogey-free 64 on the opening day, the pair are now six shots behind joint-leaders Belgium and South Korea.
That leaves them in a share of 12th place after the foursomes, hitting four bogeys across the front and back nine to card a four-over 76 for the round.
Meanwhile, Belgium pair Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry and South Korean duo An Byeong-hun and Kim Si-woo are leading the way at the Metropolitan Golf Club in Melbourne.
Pieters and Detry carded a one-under 71 during a wet second round in Victoria.
An and Kim managed an even-par 72 to join the Belgian pair atop the leaderboard at 10 under.
Pieters and Detry were one of only four teams to shoot a round under par, with Mexico’s Abraham Ancer and Roberto Diaz producing the day’s best with a two-under 70.
England’s Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton battled to a 74 to be in a tie for third with Italy’s Andrea Pavan and Renato Paratore (71), India’s Anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar (72) and Malaysia’s Gavin Green and Ben Leong (73).
Poulter was furious with the conditions players were forced to compete in and asked officials when it would be considered unplayable.
Australia’s Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith managed to salvage a four-over 76 to be at six under and tied for eighth.
Defending champions Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen of Denmark also struggled, a 77 leaving them two shots further back.
The United States slipped back to one over after Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley combined to fire a 79, making five consecutive bogeys to finish their round.
Additional reporting by Sinéad Farrell
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