Willett and Rahm share lead at Wentworth, McIlroy makes cut
>> LONDON: England’s Danny Willett and Spain’s Jon Rahm shared a two-stroke lead at the BMW PGA Championship with both sitting at 11-under par after the second round on Friday.
Willett, a Masters champion in 2016, enjoyed home crowd support and carded a seven-under-par 65 which included six birdies and an eagle, offset by a bogey on the 14th in the European Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth, Surrey.
Rahm, chasing his fifth European Tour title, sank six birdies, an eagle and three bogeys to sign for 67. “We hit a lot of good shots, holed some nice kind of mid-range putts,” Willett said.
“I’m probably not back to my best, and I’m still working on the moves and there’s still shots in there that I don’t like.”
Willett had the clubhouse lead before he was joined at the top of the leaderboard when Rahm, who bogeyed his first two holes, eagled the par-five 18th where he drew wild applause when his approach shot landed just a few feet from the hole.
“I didn’t get frustrated when I made two bogeys,” Rahm said. “When I started playing good I just capitalised. I was feeling really confident off the tee, confident with the irons.
“I think it’s a great golf course. That’s why I love coming back to Europe, to play these traditional style golf courses. They’re not long and not overly complicated on paper. It’s a special event with a lot of history.”
Four-time major champion Rory McIlroy put his first round horror show of 76 behind him and battled for a three-under 69 to make the cut on one over.