Scotland off to nightmare World Cup start

• Scotland sit dead last after day one of the World Cup of Golf
• Russell Knox and Duncan Stewart struggled to six-over-par
• Spain have the lead at Kingston Heath on three-under-par

Scotland duo Russell Knox and Duncan Stewart endured a nightmare start to the 2016 World Cup of Golf as they currently sit dead last after the first round.

On a tough day for scoring at Kingston Heath, where the wind made life very difficult for the 28 teams, Knox and Stewart struggled in the foursomes session to a six-over-par 78 – with the pair’s only birdie coming on the very first hole.

After going out in one-over-par, it was the back nine where they came undone, with bogeys on the 12th, 14th and 18th holes and a double-bogey on the par-3 15th.

Read more -> Russell Knox: ‘I don’t care what people think’

Nine shots better off, the Spanish pair of Rafa Cabrera-Bello and Jon Rahm (above) lead the way on three-under-par after they claimed the only eagle of the day on the eighth hole.

“It’s a score we’re proud of and also a score we deserve” – Rafa Cabrera-Bello

“It’s been a fun day, we played well,” said Cabrera-Bello, who hadn’t missed a cut on the European Tour the whole of last season. “It was tough and tricky with the wind but Jon played great, I rolled some putts and hit some good shots as well. It’s a score we’re proud of and also a score we deserve.”

Rahm, who turned professional after this year’s US Open, added: “We’re playing foursomes in this kind of weather in this part of the world and on this kind of course, it’s a little tricky to what I’m used to playing in the States.

Read more -> Russell Knox’ World Cup pick is questioned

“Obviously we planned a strategy which had me hitting more tee-shots. He hit a couple of great shots, rolled some putts in and that’s pretty much what we needed.

“It was about avoiding mistakes and we did that perfectly” – Jon Rahm

“It wasn’t so much about hitting great shots, it was about avoiding mistakes and we did that perfectly.”

Just one shot behind Spain are the USA (Rickie Fowler & Jimmy Walker, above), China (Ashun Wu & Haotong Li) and France (Victor Dubuisson & Romain Langasque), while England (Chris Wood & Andy Sullivan) and Italy (Francesco Molinari & Matteo Manassero) are on one-under-par.

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Can Scotland get back into it?

Will the Scottish duo work their way back into contention at the World Cup of Golf? Or has the damage already been done? Leave your thoughts in the ‘Comments’ section below.