Brian Shaver and Wilfredo Morales steered Puerto Rico to a first round lead in the Nations Cup after a two under par 70 at SuperClubs Breezes Runaway Bay in Jamaica today (Thursday). Playing foursomes in the first round, the Puerto Rico pair fired five birdies to lead the Colombian team by one with Chile a further shot adrift.
Twenty two nations from Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean are taking part this week with the top three teams qualifying for the World Golf Championships - EMC World Cup which takes place in Argentina on December 7-10. The American team of Tiger Woods and David Duval will be defending the title.
Shaver, a club professional who normally spends his week giving lessons and selling tees rather than playing alongside players from both the European and US Tours, said: "That was better than expected. We've got nothing to lose so just need to keep swinging. The aim is certainly to qualify for Argentina."
Foursomes is an unusual format for most of the field and for the Chilean pair of Guillermo Encina and Angel Fernandez it is the first time they have ever played alternate shots. Nevertheless they still picked up an eagle and four birdies on their way to a level par 72.
Finland, represented by Kalle Vainola and Mikael Piltz, both European Challenge Tour players, got off to a flying start with three birdies in their first six holes to reach the turn in three under. But a double bogey on the 408 yards fifth hole, their 14th, proved costly as they struggled to hold on over the closing stretch on their way to a 73, one over par.
Among the favourites to qualify for the WGC - EMC World Cup are the German pair of Thomas Gogele and Alex Cejka, both European Tour regulars, who shot a 74 to lie four off the pace.
Cejka, who last played foursomes during the Seve Ballesteros Trophy in April when he was part of the victorious Continental Europe team, said: "We made four really stupid bogeys but four shots off the lead is not too bad. There is a long way to go and four shots is nothing over three rounds."
Also on two over are the Italian pair of Massimo Scarpa and Emanuele Canonica and the Austrians Marcus Brier and Ulf Wendling, who went out in 41 but picked up four successive threes in a back nine of 33 to put themselves back in the hunt.
Brier, the first Austrian to play full time on the European Tour, said: "We started badly but got it back on the back nine. That made the round look a lot better. It was difficult to get into any rhythm when you play alternate shots. This is the first time I have played foursomes in four years as a professional and it was good fun."
The Bahamas and Venezuelan teams also finished on two over but host nations Jamaica, who have qualified for the past two years, struggled on the testing SuperClubs Breezes Runaway Bay course, posting a nine over par 81.
Teams will play foursomes again in Saturday's third round but the format for the second and fourth rounds will be Fourballs.
Round One Scores (Par 72)
70 Puerto Rico (W Morales / B Shaver)
71 Colombia (G Mendoza / J Amaya)
72 Chile (G Encina / A Fernandez)
73 Finland (M Piltz / K Vainola)
74 Austria (M Brier / U Wendling)
= Italy (E Canonica / M Scarpa)
= Germany (T Gogele / A Cejka)
= Bahamas (R Gorospe / J Delancey)
= Venezuela (M Martinez / C Castro)
75 Bolivia (O Mariscal / J Vargas)
= Norway (M Orveland / K Ekjord)
= Bermuda (D Pearman / C Bean)
76 Portugal (J Carvalhosa / S Ferreira)
= Switzerland (P Quirici / A Bossert)
= Brazil (C Dluhosch / G Antunes)
79 Mexico (E Toledo / O Serna)
= Holland (S Lovey / H Bensdorp)
80 Iceland (S Petursson / K Bjarnason)
81 Jamaica (B Williams / E Bernard)
83 Poland (M Stelmasiak / M Sokolowski)
84 Slovenia (J Grilc / B Palovsnik)
85 Czech Republic (K Skopovy / J Janda)
