GolfSixes 2017: England Advance, USA Falter in Knockout Stage

The United States failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the 2017 GolfSixes despite beating Portugal, while England topped Group A after the opening day.

The Golfsixes tournament made its debut on Saturday and immediately drew a lot of attention, especially from the younger fans.

As shared by the European Tour's official Twitter account, it's easy to see why:

The American team of Paul Peterson and David Lipsky lost their opening match to Australia, and a draw against Wales and win over Portugal couldn't rescue the Stars and Stripes.

Here's a look at the standings after the group stages:

The rules for this new kind of tournament are simple―teams play a six-hole match in greensomes matchplay format, with each hole won adding to the score. After six holes, the winner is awarded three points while the losing team gets naught. In the case of a tie, both teams earn one point.

In Group B, that meant Peterson and Lipsky were on the back foot as soon as they lost their opening match to Australia 1-0. Wales would hold the duo to a draw in the second contest―earning their only point of the day―and while the USA did beat Portugal, Australia's win over Wales meant the Aussies finished the day with six points.

The European Tour shared Scott Hend's winning putt against Wales:

England and Denmark qualified from Group A after a nail-biting finish, edging ahead of the Netherlands. The hosts comprehensively beat the Dutch 4-0 in their final match, taking the top spot after back-to-back draws with India and Denmark.

Denmark's Lucas Bjerregaard and Thorbjorn Olesen started their day with a draw against Joost Luiten and Reinier Saxton of the Netherlands, and a close 1-0 win over India in their final match saw the Danes through.

After the three matches, England's Chris Wood took to Twitter to thank the fans for their support:

England will face Italy in the next round, after Matteo Manassero and Renato Paratore finished second in Group D, behind the French.

Thailand impressed the most during the opening round, with only the Spanish duo of Pablo Larrazabal and Jorge Campillo able to take points off Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat. For Thailand, a date with Australia is next.