U.S. in contention at World Cup of Golf as Denmark goes low

The United States duo of Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker are just five shots back heading into the weekend at the World Cup of Golf. Tied for fourth place, the Americans say they’re yet to play their best team golf.

“A few more [birdies] would have been nice to go into the weekend with, but we’ve done a good job with what we’ve had,” said Fowler after a second-round, 5-under 67 in the best-ball format that has them trailing the Danish duo of Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olesen at Kingston Heath in Australia.

“We haven’t had any of our best golf yet, or anything close to it, so we’ll get our run here very soon.”

The Danes were on point on Friday, shooting a team 60 that got them to a 12-under total. In a six-hole stretch, the Danes made two eagles and three birdies, boosting their round. The scoring conditions on Friday, where the team average was just under 67, were much better than a windy and trying Thursday when the U.S. duo was just one of six teams to break par.

The format shifts on Saturday again, back to the Thursday foursomes (alternate shot) format that tends to separate the better teams from the rest of the pack.

“Tomorrow can definitely separate some guys at the top and a few shots back,” Fowler said. “If we go out and play a solid round of golf, it can do us a lot of good heading into Sunday.”

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.