GUANGZHOU, China -- Graeme McDowell and Rory McIlroy held onto Ireland's three-stroke lead in the World Cup of Golf, shooting a four-under par 68 in the second round foursomes Friday.
The Irishmen were 18-under 126 after two rounds of the $5.5 million tournament. Defending champion Sweden moved up to second after Robert Karlsson and Henrik Stenson shot the day's best round -- a 7-under 65 -- at the Mission Hills Golf Club in Dongguan.
Italy's Molinari brothers (66) were a stroke further back, three shots ahead of Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita and Ryuji Imada (71) in fourth.
McDowell, aiming to win Ireland's third cup, was looking forward to a return to the fourball format on Saturday after the more demanding foursomes.
"We are both playing really well and will be playing aggressively in the third round, looking for loads of birdies and eagles and trying to break 60 again," McDowell said.
McIlroy added, "Foursomes is a little trickier than the fourball. You have to rely on your partner to sort of get you out of trouble."
Stenson said the 7,251-yard course suits the Swedish team's style of play, as he and Karlsson closed in on back-to-back titles.
"Robert did great and the way the course played, we had a different thought when we started the tournament last year. On Thursday I was going to hit on the odd holes, but then we spoke and came up with me hitting on the even ones instead," he said.
"Robert drives the ball really nice and I've been hitting some good iron shots, and today we made some putts, as well," Stenson added.
Wales (68) and Venezuela (67) were both eight strokes off the lead, while four teams -- South Africa (70), England (69), India (68) and New Zealand (68) -- finished with a 9-under 135 for 36 holes.
The United States pairing of Nick Watney and John Merrick (72) were 13 shots off the leaders.
