Thomas Björn reined in Kevin Streelman after the American had raced clear at the start of the second round of the ISPS HANDA World Cup of Golf in Melbourne.
The pair both shot five under par opening rounds of 66 at Royal Melbourne to share the first round lead, but 35 year old Streelman initially took full advantage of his earlier second round tee time.
A winner of his first US PGA Tour title in Florida earlier this year, Streelman made his move early with four consecutive birdies at the start of his round.
The World Number 46 holed a ten foot putt at the first, two-putted for birdie at the second, knocked in a 15 foot effort at the third, then almost pitched in at fourth.
Streelman bogeyed the eighth then shanked a bunker shot at the ninth and ran up a double bogey six, and with Björn recovering from an opening bogey with back-to-back birdies the pair were tied for the lead once more on six under.
Björn pitched to five feet at the sixth; the subsequent birdie leaving him seven under, but Streelman pulled level with a gain at the long 15th.
The pair were two ahead of Scotland’s Martin Laird, with Australian Jason Day a shot further back in fourth.
With Matt Kuchar two under for his round through eight holes, defending champions America were in control of the team contest on nine under par.
Björn and team-mate Thorbjørn Olesen were three behind in second as they aimed to give Denmark a first World Cup victory, with Australia another three strokes behind in third.
