Putting lets down NZ duo at World Cup of Golf

Danny Lee and Ryan Fox of New Zealand look on during day two of the World Cup of Golf. Photo / Getty

Their putting game deserted the New Zealand duo of Danny Lee and Ryan Fox and with it any chance of pushing for a strong finish at the World Cup of Golf at Melbourne's Kingston Heath yesterday.

Lee and Fox finished tied for 11th in the 28 team competition following a final round 67 in four-balls format. That left them at 10-under for the tournament, 10 shots back from the winning Denmark pairing of Soren Kjeldsen and Thorbjorn Olese.

There was probably no chance of catching the Danes, who took control after a team score of 60 in the second round, but Lee thought the Kiwis had a chance to push for a top five finish but putting let them down on Sunday.

Multiple putts hit the lip of the cup but failed to drop for the New Zealanders.

"We did good. I struggled with my putting today. We could have easily been 13 or 14-under, who knows. If we got it going earlier in the round we might have had much better momentum going into the back nine but I think I let down team New Zealand today," the world number 64 said.

Fox shared the same sentiments and the blame for the disappointing putting display.

"It was a great week. I really enjoyed it but as Danny said we probably for three of the four days didn't get the putts to roll in as we would have liked."

New Zealand had to watch on as playing partners Sweden did make the putts and surged into fifth place with a 10-under 62 on the final day.

Denmark won their first title ahead of France, China and the United States who all finished four shots back at 16-under.

It's been 58 years in the making ...#TeamDEN🇩🇰 has won its first #WorldCupofGolf title 🏆 pic.twitter.com/zSUBSA03d3

— World Cup of Golf (@WorldCupofGolf) November 27, 2016

Lee and Fox were pairing up for the first time as a team at the World Cup of Golf but it was their second appearance of the year for New Zealand after both represented their country at the Rio Olympics.

"We match very well together. I really enjoyed his company. He's a great guy and a great golfer. I think we're going to have fun next week," Lee said ahead of the Australian PGA Championship at Gold Coast's Royal Pines Resort.

Both players had plenty of praise for the Kingston Heath course, often rated as one of the best in Australasia. Part of the famed Melbourne sandbelt courses, Kingston Heath was in its usual pristine best over the week, however the Melbourne weather didn't play its part with morning rain greeting the players on Sunday.

"A lot of the courses these days you have to be able to hit it really far off the tee to shoot a low number but this course you don't have to hit driver for every hole to shoot low numbers," Lee said.

"Out there you've got to put your tee ball into a good position for second shots and you've just got to putt it well."

And that's where the New Zealand team shot themselves in their collective feet. Their putting game was inconsistent throughout the week after both matching each other off the tee and setting up approach shots.

Maybe a change in Lee's diet could be to blame.

"One thing's for sure I had plenty of meat pies this week," Lee said on his first trip Down Under in eight years.