World Cup of Golf: Australia, England and South Korea share lead

Australia, England and South Korea share the lead after the opening round of the World Cup of Golf.

Australia's Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith

Australia pair Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith and England duo Ian Poulter and Tyrrell Hatton are part of a three-way tie for the World Cup of Golf lead.

The teams of Leishman/Smith and Poulter/Hatton fired 10-under 62s in the first round in Victoria on Thursday to go top of the leaderboard alongside South Koreans An Byeong-hun and Kim Si-woo.

They made the most of the four-ball format to take a one-shot lead on what is a congested leaderboard.

Malaysia's Gavin Green and Ben Leong, Belgium's Thomas Pieters and Thomas Detry and Danish duo Thorbjorn Olesen and Soren Kjeldsen are at nine under.

Olesen and Kjeldsen, the defending champions, mixed 10 birdies with a bogey at Metropolitan Golf Club.

India's Anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar and Ireland's Shane Lowry and Paul Dunne are at eight under.

Americans Matt Kuchar and Kyle Stanley have work to do after opening with a six-under 66.

There was a touching moment involving the United States and Australia teams, who greeted Briony Lyle – wife of late professional golfer Jarrod – during their rounds.