Denmark could easily rest on its laurels after building a four-stroke lead heading into tomorrow’s high-octane fourball finale to the ISPS Handa World Cup of Golf.
But don’t even suggest that to Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen, the class act through three imperious rounds at Kingston Heath.
A maiden World Cup title is tantalisingly within reach for the Danes after their two-under 70 in the third-round foursomes propelled them to 14 under.
But there’s no way they’re going to try to protect that lead tomorrow in the same format in which they carved out a stunning 60 in round two.
“No. Attack for sure. We try to take shots on and more so in the fourball. A lot of birdies are going to be made tomorrow, so we have to make birdies too,” Kjeldsen said.
Only American duo Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker made ground on the tearaway Danes as one of only two teams to break 70, the three-under 69 advancing them to second place at 10-under and, importantly, into the last pairing for the last round.
On whether the Danes will feel extra pressure playing alongside the Players champion and US PGA champion, Kjeldsen quipped: “They're not going to play my Srixon or Thorbjorn's Titleist.”
Olesen cautioned everyone not to get ahead of themselves to predict a Danish victory. “I had a seven-shot lead in Turkey and it got down to one. So, I know how easy it can slip away. A four-shot lead is nice, but it's not going to be easy,” he said.
The Americans are ready for the fight as Walker agreed the last group was the best vantage point to launch an assault on the lead.
“Yeah, if you can do that every week, that's a good place to be going into the last day. I'm excited, I know Rickie's excited and we're looking forward to a good day,” Walker said.
Fowler said: “It would be nice to be out front or a little closer, but with where we were coming into today, just putting up a solid round of golf was what we wanted to do. We did that and we gave ourselves a chance going into tomorrow. It's going to take some good golf and some birdies, obviously, but it will be nice being in that final group to know exactly where we stand.”
China couldn't apply any heat playing alongside the Danes as Ashun Wu and Haotong Li stood still on the scoreboard after a 72 left them at nine-under, five back in third place.
No team that's midfield or better was prepared to concede defeat. Ironically, the chasers are buoyed by Denmark's sizzling 12-under 60 in Friday's fourball competition.
New Zealand, nine shots off the pace, reflected the optimism when Ryan Fox revealed the game-plan of partner Danny Lee and himself to try to slash the deficit.
“Danny's the one that hits them straight, so he hits first and then I can just lash at everything pretty much. Hopefully, I can chip in on a few holes like I did on Friday and get some putts to go in. There's a good score out here, especially if the conditions are like today,” Fox said.
England, which started the day five shots behind, blew its chances with a horrendous back nine, leaking six shots in the last eight holes for a 77 to fall back into the pack at two-under.
Chris Wood and Andy Sullivan, playing alongside the Americans, were tied third after a birdie at the 10th before shedding shots at 11, 13, 16 and 17 before a disappointing double-bogey finish.