Larrazabal was the European Tour rookie of the year, and the combination of his youth and exuberance with the experience of Jiminez worked to perfection. Larrazabal commented: "Two more days to go; we need to work to keep the machine running for two more days. That's a great round for foursomes. Tomorrow will be another day."

Job done partner! The Spaniards celebrate at the end of their round.

The irony is that they will have left the course feeling that they should have been at least two strokes better. Arrazabal left a decent birdie chance hanging on the lip of the hole on the 18th. Minutes earlier, on the par-5 fifteenth, Jiminez delivered another perfect drive, and the pair must have been licking their lips at the prospect of a second eagle, but first Arrazabal bunkered his fairway wood, and then Jiminez failed to escape – the only two poor shots the Spaniards produced today. Arrazabal played again and left Jiminez a longish putt for par that he was unable to make.

Typically, they took back the stroke lost on 15 with a birdie on 16, but both must be feeling frustrated at having sullied an otherwise perfect round. It is fortunate for the rest of the teams and for the competition as a whole that they did so, otherwise they would be out of sight. As it is they lead by four strokes, and if they go into the third day and produce anything like their performance in the foursomes, they could be nominal winners by the end of the day.

Germany and Australia together on 18. They would finish together on thirteen-under - still in the hunt, if only just.

In normal circumstances, we would be looking at a real dogfight for the title, with four strokes separating the seven teams trailing the Spaniards. Australia lie joint second with first round leaders Germany on thirteen-under. Australia have produced two steady rounds of 63 and 68, although a bogey on the last might prove costly. Germany got off to a sticky start, and dropped briefly to nine-under with a bogey on 6, but came back strongly with our birdies to stay in contention.

On twelve-under come pre-tournament favourites Sweden, who produced the second-best round of the day with a 67. They may yet have a say in the destination of the trophy. Ireland and the USA will play together on day 3 at eleven-under, Japan are on ten-under, with Canada lying eighth on nine-under. Then come the also-rans – next best are Korea on six-under, but well out of contention.