Harris English believes he and Matt Kuchar complement each other's games as they took a five-shot lead at the QBE Shootout.

The American duo reached 25 under par in the modified alternate shot format, shooting 11 under for a score of 61.

After opening with five birdies to start their round, the duo closed with six more from the 12th to take a commanding lead after two rounds.

"I feel like our games really fit this format well," English said. 

"He does a lot of stuff that I'm not great at and maybe I do some stuff that he's not great at. It's just fun. It's very relaxing out there."

Kuchar added: "There's still a need to make lots of birdies. I think this best-ball format, guys are going to shoot some low scores. 

"Whatever the lead is, pars aren't going to be helping out very much. We've got to still make a bunch of birdies tomorrow to try to protect the lead."

Kevin Na and Sean O'Hair opened with a score of 56 but are trailing at 20 under after a 68 on Saturday.

"Alternate shot's a tough format. I don't know what these guys played that are leading, but we were saying anything better than five under was a good score," Na said. 

"We fell one short of what our minimum was, but it's tough."

The star-studded team of Bubba Watson and Louis Oosthuizen are 18 under, as are Lanto Griffin and Mackenzie Hughes.