World Cup of Golf 2016: Thursday Leaderboard Scores and Highlights

Spain edged into a one-shot lead after the first day of action at the 2016 World Cup of Golf in Melbourne, Australia, as Rafael Cabrera Bello and Jon Rahm combined in the first foursomes round for a three-under-par 69 on Thursday.

Tied for second after rounds of 70 are United States duo Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker, Chinese pair Wu Ashun and Li Haotong, and Victor Dubuisson and Romain Langasque of France.

England's Chris Wood and Andy Sullivan carded a one-under 71 along with Italy's Francesco Molinari and Matteo Manassero, while hosts Australia lie 14th in the field of 28 following Adam Scott and Marc Leishman's 74.

Here is how the leaderboard looks after the first round of action at Kingston Heath Golf Club:

#	Country	Team	Overall	Round 1 Score
1	Spain	Cabrera-Bello/Rahm	-3	69
T2	United States	Fowler/Walker	-2	70
T2	China	Wu/Li	-2	70
T2	France	Dubuisson/Langasque	-2	70
T5	England	Wood/Sullivan	-1	71
T5	Italy	Molinari/Manassero	-1	71
T7	Ireland	Lowry/McDowell	Par	72
T7	Sweden	Noren/Lingmerth	Par	72
T7	Denmark	Kjeldsen/Olesen	Par	72
T10	Belgium	Pieters/Colsaerts	+1	73

For the full leaderboard visit the European Tour's website.

Thursday Recap 

Spain were given a big boost on the last when Cabrera Bello's birdie putt dropped in after spending a moment on the edge of the hole, per the European Tour:

It marked the end of a clean round for the pair on a difficult and windy opening day. A bogey five on the fourth was more than made up for with an eagle on the par-five eighth, and the pair's final-hole birdie pushed Spain into the solo lead after they had also picked up a shot on 12.

There was similar jubilation for China on the 18th when Wu holed a monster putt to move them just one off the lead, per the European Tour:

It had been an erratic round up to the closing stages, as three bogeys and three birdies saw the duo at level par after 15, but birdies at 16 and 18 gave their scorecard a significant boost.

Fowler and Walker looked like they might end the day atop the leaderboard after excellent work on the greens saw them move to three under following consecutive birdies on 13, 14 and 15.

However, a bogey five at 16 dropped the U.S. side back into second place at the end of the day.

The French team of Dubuisson and Langasque endured mixed fortunes around the turn as they followed birdies at nine and 10 with bogeys at 11 and 12.

However, birdies on the first and the par-three 15th put them firmly in contention with a round of 70.

Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Englishmen Wood and Sullivan will be ruing the double-bogey seven they carded on 12, without which they could have been in a tie for the lead.

Italy endured even worse fortune on the 12th, as they shot a triple-bogey eight that tarnished a tidy round that included birdies on two, five, 10 and 16.

The Aussie team of Leishman and Scott had a tough time in front of their home crowd. Their only birdie of the day came at 15.

World No. 7 Scott picked out the blustery conditions as a major issue but played down the significance of being five shots back after one day, per AAP (via FoxSports.com.au): "It’s very tough to gauge exactly what’s going on out there when it’s blustery. I missed my first three greens I was trying to get Marc onto so we got going on the back foot. But it’s not that bad."

On Friday, the teams will be freed from the pressures of the alternate-shot format—which will return on Saturday—as best-ball fourballs are the order of the day in the second and last rounds of the tournament.

It will be a crucial day of play on Friday, as all 28 teams will look to manoeuvre themselves into a strong position heading into the weekend.