Sweden take World Cup lead

World Cup:Sweden's Carl Pettersson and Henrik Stenson, boosted by four birdies in a row around the turn, snatched the lead from Argentina in the WGC-World Cup third round on Saturday.

Three off the pace at the start of another breezy day at the Sandy Lane Resort, Pettersson and Stenson fired a sparkling eight-under-par 63 in the fourballs (best ball) format.

The Swedes reeled off eight birdies in a blemish-free display before finishing one stroke clear of the field at 16-under 197.

"We were just trying to grind today, we knew we had to shoot low," Pettersson told reporters after a personal haul of five birdies, four of them after the turn.

"We've never really been in trouble and on the back nine, we really got it going."

Sweden are bidding for their second World Cup title, Anders Forsbrand and Per-Ulrik Johansson having triumphed at Le Querce in Rome, Italy in 1991.

Argentina's Angel Cabrera and Andres Romero, who stretched their lead to five with four birdies in the first seven holes, had to settle for second place after returning a 67.

Scotland, represented by veteran Colin Montgomerie and World Cup rookie Marc Warren, were a further stroke back in third after carding a 65, with defending champions Wales (62) and the United States (63) among seven teams tied for fourth.

Meanwhile Ireland's Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley are seven under after a 66.

Pettersson and Stenson combined superbly in the bright sunshine, peppering the bending flags with pinpoint approach shots and making the most of their birdie chances.

A run of four birdies from the par-five ninth lifted them to 14 under and Pettersson picked up further shots on 15 and 16 to put the Swedes in front for the first time.

Romero lipped out with a birdie attempt at the par-three 16th and the South Americans stayed in second place after parring the last two holes.

"We had a tough time with the putter, both of us," Cabrera said.

"We are close, though. One stroke, it's not very much. We are going to fight for the Cup."

Welshmen Bradley Dredge and Stephen Dodd, shock winners of last year's World Cup in Portugal, vaulted up the leaderboard with a best-of-the-week 62.

Out in four-under 32, they stormed home with birdies on the last five holes, including a chip-in at the par-three 18th.

"We had a good day today, which doesn't make up for yesterday," said Dodd, referring to their dismal 75 in Friday's foursomes format.

"It was frustrating for us around the turn but I holed a nice one on 14 and that got us going."

England's Luke Donald and David Howell, tournament favourites at the start of the week, failed to sparkle for the second day in a row.

Between them, they collected only two birdies en route to a 70 and a tie for 12th place at seven under.

"We both played pretty poorly, really," Howell said. "One birdie each just isn't good enough, especially in this format.

"There was only one hole where we both had birdie putts under five feet and we missed them both, and that just about sums up the day."
   
The playing format switches back to foursomes (alternate shot) for Sunday's final round.